
TifK soLDiKU TX :mi:xi('(». 



ADVENTURES 



OF AN' 



ENGLISH SOLDIEK 



I\ TIIK 




S I 



UNITED STATES ARMY, 



New York : 
W. A. TOWXSKXI) .^- ('()>rrAXY. 

18G0. 



THE 



MEXICAN WAR, 



BY 

AN ENGLISH SOLDIER 



COMPRISING 



INCIDENTS AND ADVENTURES 



IN THE 



UNITED STATES AND MEXICO 

WITH THE 

, , ' J • o , > , , , \ 

NEW YORK: 

W. A; TOWNSEKD & COMPANY. 
1860. 






•^7 % 'X' r 



C C I c c 
V - • • « c 
* • « c 



• •4.« < ,'r' 



§.mttxtun |M;His|rers' frHate. 



During the discussion in the Senate of tlie United 
States, upon the bill to confer additional military 
rank upon General Winfield Scott, in acknowledg- 
ment of his great services to his country, General 
Shields remarked that no worthy history of the 
Mexican war had yet been written. The truth of 
the observation was everywhere felt. What has 
hitherto appeared on the subject, beyond the official 
despatches, has more resembled romance than his- 
tory, being in the main confined to dashing narra- 
tives of the personal adventures of roving or belli- 
gerent Hotspurs, who knew little and cared less about 
the discipline and routine of the every-day life of the 
regular soldier ; or on the other hand to eulogistic 
compilations, prepared for sale, rather than as contri- 



^ PREFACE. 

butions to history. The writers of both classes have 
" cast discreetly into shade" whatever would " offend 
the eye" of the readers they sought to appreciate. 

As a partial remedy for the evil complained of by 
the gallant officer above referred to, the publishers 
put forth the present volume. If it does not rise to 
the dignity of history, it at least partakes of that 
faithfulness of record and clearness of detail which 
give history its value. The author is manifestly 
superior to that class of his countrymen ordinarily 
found in the rank and file of an army, in intelligence, 
in education, in observation, in descriptive and nar- 
rative power, and in candor and liberality of senti- 
ment. Something of foreign misapprehension, pos- 
sibly some degree of foreign preference or prejudice, 
may be found in his pages ; and it is by no means 
improbable that some of his criticisms upon men and 
events may be unjust ; but there is throughout the 
volume an evident desire to be just as well as inde- 
pendent, both in criticism and in narration. 

The publishers confidently express the opinion, in 
which they are confirmed by the verdict of the lite- 
rary gentlemen to whom the work has been submitted 



PREFACE. Vll 



for supervision, not only that nothing has yet issued 
from the American press that gives so intelligent and 
lively a description of the actualities of the war in 
Mexico, but that no work is extant in the English 
language which presents bo interesting a picture of a 
soldier's life — his round of conversation, his employ- 
ments, his toils, dangers, and escapes — what he sees 
and does, and how he docs it — as this autobiography. 
The reader will find it difficult to part company with 
the author. There is no " fine writing" to pall upon 
the taste. Everything is told naturally, and every- 
thing is described earnestly. The style is nervous 
yet chaste, and free from the coarseness which too 
often disfigures a soldier's narrative. Yet there is 
no sentimentality. The manliness of the true soldier 
is apparent on every page. The charm of the work 
is in the impressive distinctness of every picture of 
place or incident. The reader will feel as though he 
accompanied the hardy soldier from the moment of 
his enlistment to that of his discharge ; messing with 
him on Governor's Island, marching with him to 
join tlic forces under General Scott, sleeping with 
him on the mountain side, where the bed is made 



Viii PREFACE. 

softer by putting aside some of the larger stones, cir« 
cuitously approaching the scene of action, exchanging 
a repartee or a word of encouragement with a com- 
rade, mingling in the melee, and finally entering the 
city of Mexico in triumph, and realizing all the pecu- 
liarities of its buildings and its people. So vividly 
is every scene painted that a stranger, with the 
volume as his guide, might trace the entire route of 
the American army through Mexico, locate every 
bivouac, and comprehend every manoeuvre or military 
movement. The publishers feel assured that this 
commendation of the volume will be verified by every 
intelligent reader of its pages. 



Cflttt^ntH. 



CHAPTER I. 
I arrive in New York, and make several strange acquaint- 
ances, - 9 



CHAPTER II, 

My first experience as an American soldier, and attendance 

at military punishment, ------ -17 



CHAPTER III. 
Embarkation at the Battery — Yankee opinion of Soldiers — 
Fort Adams — New comrades — Defects of organization — 
Koutine of duties — Life in quarters ----- 30 



CHAPTER IV. 
Departure from Fort Adams — Providence — Robbing the Or- 
chard — Boston — Life in a Transport — The Captain and the 
Nigger, '- 42 

CHAPTER V. 

The Soldier at Sea, 61 



X CONTENTS. 

Page 
CHAPTER VI. 
A 4.t>0L«rn Soldier of Fortune, - 66 

CHAPTER VII. 

Lavd m. Sight— Pensacola Bay— Fort Pickens— Rough Lodg- 
ings—Smuggling Whiskey — A Carouse, - - - - 86 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Surprise — ^Doctor Brown — Fishing at Pensacola — Bathers 

and Sharks, ---92 

CHAPTER IX. 
Tampa Bay — ^Indian Paradise — Beautiful Squaws — Forest Life 
—The Hujpamocks — Snakes — Rumours of War — Lost in the 
Wood, 100 

• 

CHAPTER X. 

General Scoifc — The Coast of Mexico — A jolly Captain — A 

Gale of Wlna— The River— Tampico, - - - - 121 



CHAPTER XI. 
The Town and its Population — Reinforcements — General 

Shields — Bill imtt as Orderly — ^Expedition to Vera Cruz, - 137 



CHAPTER XII. 
Sacrificios — ^The dwoarkation — A bivouac — ^A night alarm, - 145 

CHAPTER xni. 
General Scott — ^The Shell — Naval sporting — Investment of 

Vera Cruz — Vergara — Spoiling the knapsacks, - - - 152 

CHAPTER XIV. 

A prophecy fulfilled — ^The bombardment — ^Visit to Vera Cruz, 162 



CONTENTS. XI 

Pag« 
CHAPTER XV. 

Sickness — March on Jalapa — Position of the enemy — Order 

to attack — The counter-order and its efifect, ... IQl 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Arrival of General Scott — Ascent of the ravine — ^The charge 
— The loan of a pipe — Colonel Harney — General Pillow- 
Bill Crawford — Victory, 177 



CHAPTER XVn. 

After the battle — ^The wounded — Mexican surgeons — The 

litter of dead — An unexpected regale, - - - - 190 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Santa Anna's leg — Distribution of spirits — Colonel Childs— 

Interring the dead — March to Jalapa, • * - - 197 



CHAPTER XIX. 
Santa Anna's house — Aspect of the country — ^The ladies of 
Jalapa — A Mexican funeral — Description of the city — The 
priesthood — Procession of the Host — Paying the troops, - 203 

CHAPTER XX. 

Departure from Jalapa — Deserters — On the march — Captain 

Walker — Perote — ^Tepe Agualco — Puebla, - - - 215 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Puebla — Convents and Public Buildings — Newspaper Gene- 
rals — ^An Indian City — San Martin — Valley of Mexico, - 231 

CHAPTER XXII. 
San Augustine — Reconnoissance — Guard-house luxuries— A 

convivial party — An unexpected interruption^ - - - 289 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Pag« 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The Field of Battle— King's Mill— The Execution— The Pur- 
suit, 249 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Ravages of War — ^Entry into San Cosmo — Character ei the 
Population — ^Markets — ^The cemetery, - . . _ 265 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Conclusion, ---------. 281 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



ENGLISH SOLDIER IN THE U. S. AMY 



CHAPTER I. 

1 arrive in New York, and make several strange acquaintances. 

I LEFT home for the United States in the summer of 1845, 
for the same reason that yearly sends so many thousands 
there, want of employment. I had both read and heard a 
good deal about America, and knew that money could not 
be picked up in the streets there, any more than at home ; but 
I was scarcely prepared to find the scramble for the means of 
living so fierce and incessant, as I found it in New York. 

Being a handloom weaver, I called on several persons be- 
longing to that business, and from the same town as myself, 
Paisley, in the west of Scotland. They told me they had to 
work very hard to earn three dollars and a half, or at most, 
four dollars a week ; while loom rent and other expenses, 
with loss of time, changing and putting in new sorts of work, 
reduced their wages to an average of less than three dollars, 
or about twelve shillings a week. There were some weavers 
m carpet factories in Philadelphia they told me, and also a 
few in New York, who earned five or six dollars a week ; but 
only a few could find employment at these places, which 

1* 



10 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

were also subject to periods of stagnation of business, when 
tlie 30st of living soon exhausted the savings of those who 
were provident enough to save a little for a rainy day. They 
generally, while informing nie of plenty of })laces where X 
might find employment at weaving, such as it was, advised 
me to try and find employment as a labourer in preference ; 
which some of them declared their intention of doing as 
soon as they had finished their engagements. 

While walking along the wharfs at the East River ono 
morning, my attention was arrested by a placard above ono 
of the shops which front Brooklyn, stating, in the usual 
Brobdignagian typography of these announcements, that one 
hundred able-bodied men were wanted for whaling. Appli- 
cants were directed to walk up stairs. With a vague idea 
that possibly a South Sea voyage might answer my }>eculiar 
situation, I walked up and presented myself to a man whom 
I found silting at a desk in a large room, barely furnished, 
and very dirty. I asked him if he could inform mo as to the 
terms of engagement. " I can't do anything else," hQ re- 
plied, as he got up from his desk, and coming close up to 
me, asked if I meant to joinr.the money-making business of 
whaling. He was a small cadaverous looking being, with 
sandy hair, sallow complexion, and red eyes that glittered like 
a ferret's, as j'^ou caught an occasional glimpse of them froan 
behind a pair of green spectacles. I told him in reply, that 
I was out of employment, and not particularly nice as to 
what I tried, if I were able for it, and it promised tolerable 
pay. " Ah !" said he, " Stranger, I guess you are in a par- 
ticular all fir'd streak of good luck ; we are nearly filled up, 
that is a fact, but if you are in good health — let me just look 
at your arm," he continued, as he seized hold of one, feeling 
it up to the shoulder for the purpose of testing its muscular 
condition. Being satisfied with his examination, apparently, 



THE BRIGHT SIDE OF WHALING. 11 

he asked me if I was an American citizen. I told him I was 
not, having only arrived in the country a few weeks before. 
" That is no matter," said he, winking one of the ferret eyes, 
" I can fix that right away." He then congratulated me 
upon being in a fair way to make my fortune, and informed 
me that the men employed in whaling were paid by shares, 
which they called lays, and that their wages were propor- 
tionate to their luck. He had known a young man have 
eight hundred, or a thousand dollars for his share, or lay, in 
a voyage that did not last over eighteen months. A whale 
ship would have very bad luck if the men aboard of her did 
not clear three or four hundred dollars a year. Bad health 
alone, he said, had prevented him from going a voyage or 
two ; and so he went on with a great deal more to the same 
effect, most of which I thought too good to be true. Thank- 
ing him, however, for his information, and promising to call 
again after thinking the matter over, I left the office. I can't 
deny that his statements made a considerable impression on 
me at the time, though of course I believed that he greatly 
exaggerated. Still it is probable that I would have doubled 
Cape Horn in one of these v/halers, perhaps touching at 
Nukuheva, and a few of the islands in that vicinity, and real- 
izing some of those scenes of enchantment of which the 
inimitable Herman Melville has given such charming and 
graphical descriptions in his Typee and Omoo, but for the 
following incident. 

Going down the steps from the office, I met in the street 
one of the sailors of the ship in which I had arrived, a fine 
old fellow with whom I had often had a chat during the pas- 
sage. After the usual salutations, he asked me if I would 
help him to " splice the main brace," the nautical phrase for 
taking a glass of grog. I assented, and while taking a glass 
and a cigar together, he confidentially informed me that he had 



12 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

considered me a Christian ever since the fourth of July. My 
claim to this high character, which the old fellow I suppose 
considered perfectly valid, rested on the following rather slen- 
der foundation : — The night preceding the fourth of July had 
been wet and stormy, the wind blowing a pretty stiff gale. In 
the morning, the crew having been on deck all night, were 
tired, cold, and wet ; and the vessel being on the temperance 
principle, they had no grog, at which they grumbled sadly. 
The sailors were mostly Americans^ and the fourth of July, the 
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, being held 
as a day of jubilee and general festivity in the States, the 
contrast suggested to their minds by their present condition, 
made them feel the deprivation more acutely. I had brought 
a small stock of whiskey with me, and not requiring it for 
my own use, I served out an allowance to each man ; thus 
cheaply earning the reputation of a Christian. He proceeded 
to acquaint me with his having " shipped " in a vessel which 
was to sail in a few days for the East Indies. He had drawn 
a month's pay in advance, for the purpose of having a spree, 
as he was going on a long voyage. " Look here, matey," said 
he, " I have a few of the shiners left yet," and pulling a hand- 
ful of silver from his pocket, he insisted that I should take 
part of it. I thanked him for his oifer, which I said I would 
cheerfully accept if I required it. " Avast there, mate," said 
he, " did I not see you coming out of a land-shark's office 
there on the wharf ?" I acknowledged having gone into an 
office there, telling the object of my visit, and repeated part 
of the statements made by the shipping agent. " I thought 
so," said Jack, with a sneer, " but listen to me, lad." He then 
gave me a history of his own experience on board a whaler, 
with a number of anecdotes gathered from different mess- 
mates, all tending to show that it was a life of great hardship, 
with very poor wages. He strongly advised me to look for 



INDUCEMENTS TO RECRUITS. 13 

some other sort of employment, and as to sharing his money, 
if I didn't it was all the same, he could pitch it into the river ; 
he never carried any money on board with him when going 
on a long voyage. As I was not greatly above the want of 
a little pecuniary assistance, though not quite destitute of 
resources, having a good suit of clothes, and other articles 
easily convertible into money at my lodgings, I accepted a 
dollar from him as a loan. I did this the more readily, as I 
saw he would be grievously offended should I persist in re- 
fusing his kind oft'er. " Ay, ay," said the honest and warm- 
hearted old fellow, as we shook hands at parting, " you and 
I may happefi to meet some other time, when your luck's 
better than mine. If we don't, and you should ever see a 
messmate on his beam ends, give him a lift, God bless you, 
and it will do all the same." 

My interview with this honest fellow having dissipated 
any idea I had previously entertained of going to sea in a 
whaler, I strolled about for the remainder of the day, medi- 
tating on my future prospects, which presented a rather 
cheerless aspect at this juncture. Having served for a con- 
siderable time in the English army, from which I had 
purchased my discharge about five years previously, I finally 
resolved, as a sort of last resource, to try five years in the 
American service. The bills advertising for recruits, stated, 
that a few enterprising young men, of good character, were 
wanted for the ser^nce of the United States ; and promised 
good treatment, as far as physical comfort was concerned, 
being somewhat to the following efiect : — That soldiers of 
the United States' service were provided with good quarters, 
an ample suflSciency of good and wholesome diet, an abun- 
dant supply of clothing, and in case of sickness, the most 
careful attendance, and the most skilful medical aid. The 
statement concluded with the amount of money which could 



14 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

be saved by sergeant, corporal, or private, during tlieir 
period of five years' service, varying from four to seven 
hundred dollars. 

It was about the middle of August, 1845, that I called 
at the recruiting office in Cedar street, for the purpose of 
enlisting. The sergeant in charge of the establishment, 
having asked me if I had been in the British service, to 
which I replied in the affirmative, said in that case he was 
afraid they could not enlist me, as they had lately received 
an order from Washington to that effect ; deserters from fhe 
British service having generally turned out bad soldiers. As 
I saw he was under the impression that 1 was a deserter, I 
explained that I had purchased my discharge, which I could 
produce if required. This, he said, altered the case ; he was 
going to the recruiting officer's quarters, and if I had no objec- 
tion he .would take me along with him. I went with him, and 
was soon ushered into the presence of Lieutenant Burke, a tall 
handsome man, with fine expressive dark eyes, and large black 
whiskers, but a rather melancholy cast of countenance. He 
became Captain Burke soon after, in consequence of the war 
in Mexico, which caused considerable promotion among the 
officers for some time ; but he did not live to enjoy it, being 
killed at the battle of Churubusco, outside of the city of 
Mexico, in August, 184*7, about two years after my enlistment. 
After asking me a few questions, he said he would be glad to 
have me if I passed the surgeon's examination, and could 
procure a document to show that I had been discharged 
from the British service. I accordingly went to my lodgings, 
and returned with my certificate of discharge, which he 
slightly glanced over, and remarking that it was quite satis- 
factory, directed the sergeant to go with me to the inspecting 
surgeon. I then underwent an examination similar to that 
which recruits undergo when enlisted in the British service, 



16 

and immediately after, went with the sergeant to the office 
of a magistrate, and took the usual oath of allegiance. 

Being a soldier once more, and desirous of ascertaining 
the actual condition of one in the American service as soon 
as possible, I asked the sergeant when it would be requisite 
for me to be ready to go over to Governor's Island. This 
is a small island in the Manhattan Bay, where recruits are 
stationed until sent to join their respective regiments. It is 
rather more than a mile in circumference, and about a mile 
from the battery. The sergeant, who seemed a civil fellow, 
said that I might either go over in the garrison boat at sun- 
set that evening, or if I had anything to arrange in New 
York, I might defer going over until next evening. He 
advised me to sell my clothes, and purchase old ones in 
New York, as I would get almost nothing for good clothes 
in the island, and would have no opportunity of coming over 
to sell them, as recruits after landing never obtained per- 
mission to leave the island until sent to join their regi- 
ments. I followed his advice with regard to the clothes, for 
which a purchaser was easily found, replacing them with a 
light linen jacket, and chip hat, which cost a mere trifle, but 
were good enough to throw away in a day or two, when I 
should put on soldier's uniform. I also sold my trunk, and 
a few other articles which, as a soldier, I had neither much 
use for, nor convenient means of carrying ; and being desirous 
of going over the same evening, I then returned to the 
recruiting office. 

At sunset the sergeant accompanied me and two other 
recruits down t<# the boat, which lay in front of Castle 
Garden. The garrison boat was a large, handsome, and 
neatly painted cutter, rowed by six soldiers, with a corporal 
acting as coxswain. Seated in the stern of the boat were a 
couple of young officers smoking cigars. They were proba- 



16 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

bly chagrined at having been detained a minute or two 
while we were coming down, for one of them called out in a 
petulant tone to us, to jump in and be damned. I looked 
with a little surprise at the would-be aristocrat specimen of 
equal rights who had spoken, and could perceive that he had 
the apology of youth and inexperience, being little more 
than a boy. One of the recruits muttered loud enough to 
be heard by the gentleman, who stared and coloured, but 
perhaps thought it prudent to decline a reply, " Faith and 
there's many a strong word comes oflf a weak stomach." 

The evening was delightful, and in a few minutes we were 
landed on the wharf at Governor's Island. The other two 
recruits and myself were shown to a tent, where we were to 
sleep for the night. We found that it contained only two 
straw mattresses, and two blankets, but as the weather was 
very w^m, we slept that night very comfortably. 



CHAPTER 11. 

My first experience as an American soldier, and attendance at mili- 
tary punishment. 

We were roused next morning by tlie reveille, which is 
always beat a little before sunrise. Having got up with the 
assistance of a good-natured recruit who happened to look 
into our tent, we rolled up our mattresses, and folded the 
blankets according to regulation, and then, falling into the 
ranks formed in front of the tents, we answered to our names 
as they were called by the sergeant who had charge of us. 
All hands were then distributed in separate parties, each 
party in charge of a corporal, to " police" or clean round the 
garrison. A portion of this duty, at which the recruits 
grumbled loudly, and which I soon learned was one of seve- 
ral standing grievances of which they complained, was being 
sent to the barrack-square, where a company, called the per- 
manent company, were stationed. As the recruits lay in 
tents outside, and at a considerable distance from the bar- 
racks, they naturally felt indignant at the unjust degradation 
to which they were subjected, in being compelled every 
morning to act as a scavenging commission for the perma- 
nent company. The refusal to obey orders, caused by this 
foolish regulation, was the means of many of the recruits 
being confined in the guard-house while I was on the island. 
At six o'clock we were assembled and formed into squads for 
drill ; we were then drilled until seven, when we were disr 
missed. 



18 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

At half-past seven o'clock, at beat of drum, we again fell 
into the ranks, having our leathern stocks on, and jackets 
buttoned up to the collar. The roll was again called, after 
which we were marched to the cook-house to breakfast. It 
is a rule in the American service that soldiers shall breakfast, 
dine, and sup in the cook-house, a very absurd and inconve- 
nient regulation, for which I never heard any satisfactory 
reason assigned. Our breakfast consisted of six ounces of 
bread, a slice of salt pork, and a pint of weak unpalatable 
coffee, totally innocent of the useless extravagance of milk, 
instead of which we were permitted to season our sumptuous 
fare with vinegar at discretion, a large black bottle full of 
that condiment being placed at each end of the table. 

Before commencing, and as I was about to sit down to my 
first breakfast on Governor's Island, a recruit, Sawney, belong- 
ing to New York, one of the " bhoys," as they delight in 
being called, and a recognised and privileged wit among the 
recruits, volunteered to ask a blessing. It was evidently a 
preconcerted arrangement with several of his influential 
friends, who used all their address, and a considerable degree 
of exertion to obtain silence. Having finally succeeded, 
Sawney rose with a face of the utmost gravity, and com- 
menced a profane and irreverent parody. He concluded by 

d g all those infernal scoundrels who rob poor soldiers of 

their rations ; amen. " Sawney, get up, and go to the guard- 
house," said a sergeant who entered as he sat down, after 
finishing this singular grace. " Ay, ay," grumbled Sawney, 
*' I expected as much ; I said how it would be. K a poor 
devil wants to be ever so religious, it's no use a trying of it 
here. I suppose that's what you call liberty of conscience in 
this blessed free republic of ours. Hang me if it is not 
enough to make a man curse Washington, or his old grand' 
mother even." So saying, and swallowing his indignation 



CLOTHING, INSPECTION, AND DRILL. 19 

along with a gulp of the wretched coffee, and taking his 
bread in his hand, amidst the sympathy of his admiring 
friends, he walked off to the Guard House, muttering curses, 
not loud but deep. 

After breakfast, the sergeant in charge of the recruits took 
me and the two others who came over on the previous even- 
ing to the clothing store, where each received the following 
articles of clothing. A forage cap, leather stock, jacket, and 
trousers of coarse blue cloth, two cotton shirts, two pairs of 
socks, one pair of half boots, a blanket, a great-coat, a knap- 
sack, and a havresack. Having brushed our clothes, cleaned 
the metal buttons of our jackets, and polished our boots, at 
10 o'clock, we again fell into the ranks for inspection and 
drill. After a minute inspection by the officer who had us 
in charge, to see that we were smart and clean in our appear- 
ance, we were formed into a number of separate squads for 
drill ; those who had joined earliest, and consequently were 
the most forward with their drill, being placed in the first 
squad, and so on in succession. The other two recruits, 
Murphy and Finnegan, and myself, were turned over to a 
corporal named Bright, to be taught the preliminary steps of 
a soldier's drill, as " the position of a soldier," or the manner 
in which a soldier should stand in the ranks ; " the facings," 
or mode of turning on the heels to the right or left, with 
slow marching, and a few of those things which usually com- 
mence the course of instruction with recruits. 

Corporal Bright, who was an Irishman by birth, was a 
United States soldier by profession, and long custom. He 
had served three enlistments, and entered on the fourth. He 
was a stout, punchy, little fellow, rather round-shouldered, 
slightly bowlegged, nose carbuncled, and portending an addic- 
tion to strong potations. In addition, he had a very decided 
&quint from a pair of dull, grey, and glassy-looking orbs, 



20 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

wliich, as Finnegan when criticising his personal appearance 
remarked, " stuck out of the crathur's head hke the eyes of 
a boiled cod fish." Notwithstanding these slight drawbacks, 
Corporal Bright had an idea that he was a very handsome 
and w^ell-made man, and on this account became the uncon- 
scious butt of all the recruits he got to drill. " Murphy, arrah 
bad luck to you for an awkward-looking omadhaun," he would 
call out, " can't you hold up your big head, and look me 
straight in the eyes ?" (Murphy aside) — " Be the hokey, my 
bright-looking customer, and that's what I defy mortial man 
to do." Corporal Bright (marching in front), " Look at me 
now Murphy, and yourself too Finnegan ; there now, do yez 
iver see me duck my head like a gandher going under a gate 
or bent two double like some old Judy going to a wake ?" 
Finnegan (aside) — " Faith, an it's a Judy you make of yourself, 
sure enough, you consated crathur." Corporal Bright (ad- 
dressing his squad), " Be my sowl, I'm ashamed of yez for 
counthrymen ; stand at ease ; I'll just march a few paces in 
front now to show yez how yez ought to march ; now if yez 
plase will yez take a patthern." So saying, he would step 
off, and march twenty or thirty paces to the front, with such 
a ludicrous imitation of the heau ideal graceful ease, and dig- 
nified carriage of body which he recommended, as to some- 
times prove rather too much for the gravity of his pupils. 
These performances he would intersperse with a few instruc- 
tions, and self-laudatory remarks, such as, "There now, do 
vez persaive the difi'erence, can't yez carry yer shoulders 
back, yer heads ereck, and march as you persaive I do, as 
bould as a lion, and as straight as a ramrod." Finnegan 
(aside) — " Arrah, look at the gommagh, with the airs and 
consate of him, marching in front there as bould as Julius 
Caesar ; sure it's a holy show the unfortunate crather makes 
ov himself with his ' straight as a ramrod ;' faith, the ramrod 



GARRISON LIFE. 21 

that's no straighter than you, would do to load the gun that 
shoots round the corner. Murphy (aside in reply), " Faix, 
but it's the beautiful cook they spoiled, when they made the 
same fellow a corporal ; he could have one eye up the chim- 
ney, and the other in the pot at the same time." Such is a 
faint sketch of Corporal Bright and his squad of recruits, on 
the drill ground at Governor's Island. 

Having been well drilled while serving in the British 
army, I found no difficulty in acquiring my drill on the 
island, the systems of English and American drill being 
essentially the same. I therefore escaped a good deal of 
that aimoyance to which recruits are often subject, upon 
first joining the army, and which frequently proceeds from 
the ignorance or bad temper of the non-commissioned officer 
appointed to drill them. The proper combination of intelli- 
gence, firmness, and mildness of manner, requisite to form a 
good drill instructor, is of rare occurrence, and owing to this 
cause, many a young and high spirited recruit, discouraged 
and fretted by the bullying and blustering tone of those who 
ought to be his patient instructors, is tempted to desert the 
service, when, with proper treatment, he might have been 
made a good and efficient soldier. 

At half-past eleven o'clock the squads were dismissed, 
and the greater part of the recruits who possessed money, 
or had credit at the sutler's store, went over to it to buy 
crackers and cheese, pies and other eatables, and to drink 
cider, ginger, and root beer, all of which articles, with 
tobacco, and several other necessaries, were sold there at the 
slight advance of 100 per cent, upon the price at which 
similar commodities could be purchased in New York. 

The sutler's store is a shop kept in every garrison, and is 
Bomewhat similar to a canteen in the British service, only 
the sutler's stores are prohibited from selling spirits. B,e- 



22 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

cruits, on arriving at tlie island, were allowed credit in 
the sutler's store to the amount of two dollars, which sum, 
or the amount taken by the recruit, was remitted by the 
captain of his company on the first pay-day after he joined 
his regiment. Those recruits who had exhausted their 
credit at the store, either went to their tents, or lay stretched 
on the grass, under the fine shady trees that ornamented the 
parade ground, reading, dozing, or smoking, and chatting, 
according to theii various inclinations. 

At twelve o'clock the dinner call beat, a fifer and drum- 
mer playing the regulation tune, " the Roast Beef of Old 
England." "We again fell into the ranks, buttoned up as at 
breakfast roll-call, and having answered our names were 
marched to the cook-house to dinner. This meal consisted 
of six ounces of bread, a slice of salt pork, and a basin 
of bean soup. This compound was very salt, and very fat, 
and contained a quantity of half-boiled beans. I have 
seen some strange and rather uninviting dishes, both before 
and since, but never anything so utterly unpalatable as the 
bean-soup of Governw-'s Island. A few of the more 
verdant of the recruits occasionally swallowed a portion 
of it, under the false impression that it was a species 
of military soup, which might possess some hidden nutri- 
tious virtues, though so singularly uninviting in taste and 
appearance. For this venial error, however, they were 
pretty sure to suffer a moderate degree of penance, until led 
by experience to see their mistake. The old and more 
experienced hands, usually preferred to wash down their dry 
victuals with a drink of water, so that the quantity of 
Spartan broth, and salt pork, daily left on the dinner table 
of the recruits, was quite enormous, a fact easily cited to 
refute any complaint of an insufficient dietary. 

At three o'clock we again fell in for drill, and v/ere 



A STANDING GRIEVANCE. 23 

dismissed at half-past four ; and at five o'clocJj we were 
inarched as before to the cook-house for supper, which 
consisted of six ounces of bread and a pint of coffee. I 
need not insist upon the inadequacy of the diet furnished 
to the recruit, both as regards quantity and quahty, at 
Governor's Island, where a complete organization seems to 
exist, for the purpose of robbing the recruit, and disgusting 
him with the service at the very outset. The diet and 
general treatment are much better when the soldier joins his 
company ; although I am free to confess that, throughout the 
service generally, a very wide field still remains for improve- 
ment. I am aware that it will seem to many a thing quite 
incredible, that in a country abounding as America does 
with cheap food, a standard grievance with the soldiers 
should be the manner in which they are fed ; it is a fact 
nevertheless, quite notorious to every soldier who has ever 
served in the American army. 

After supper, we usually had an interval of rest until nine 
o'clock. " Now came in the sweet of the night," while the 
old and sedate portion of the recruits strolled along the 
foot-walks that intersect, and surround the island, or sat in 
small parties conversing in front of their tents, the younger 
and more volatile among them engaged in a variety of 
pastimes and amusements. Foot-ball, leaping, wrestling, 
foot racing, leap-frog, throwing the stone, or dancing when 
music could be procured, were a few of the more prominent 
of the diversions commonly resorted to. Later in the evening, 
after having answered our names at retreat, which was beat 
precisely at sunset, groups assembled round the tent doors, 
to smoke, chat, tell tales, or sing songs. Nigger songs or the 
broadly humorous, formed the staple of these social enter- 
tainments, except with the German portion of the recruits, 
who, having been taught to sing in their national schools 



24 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

had acquired, a more refined ear, and a taste for music of a 
rather superior quality. They generally arranged, therefore, 
a separate party, forming a very pleasing concert among 
themselves, by singing their national songs ; these, when 
heard a little distance off, on a still evening, had a very 
beautiful and harmonious effect. At nine o'clock we fell in, 
to answer our names at tattoo roll-call, when the drums and 
fifes played a few merry tunes, after which the roll was called 
and we were then dismissed to bed. About fifteen minutes 
were then suffered to elapse, when the drummer beat three 
distinct taps on the drum, at which signal every light in tents 
or quarters had to be extinguished, and the most strict 
silence preserved, on pain of the offender being sent to the 
guard-house — the immediate punishment for all wilful infrac- 
tions of the rules of the service. Such is a summary of one 
day, and, with but slight variations, of every day of the 
three weeks I spent on Governor's Island. 

I had been upon the island about a week, when a large 
draft of recruits was ordered to Texas, where they were to 
join different regiments, preparing for that expedition to the 
frontier, which resulted in involving the United States in the 
war with Mexico. The popular feeling in the United States, 
at that period, seemed to be strongly in favor of a war. 
Texas had just been annexed, and the papers teemed with 
paragraphs calculated to rouse the war spirit, dwelling on 
the indignities offered to the States by the Mexican Govern- 
ment ; especially in refusing to pay certain indemnities 
claimed by American citizens, for injuries received by them 
from Mexican civil functionaries, in their trading relations 
with that nation. In the meantime the refusal of Mexico 
to recognize the independence of Texas, or to listen to any 
statement of American grievances, with the circumstance of 
her having an army on the Rio Grande, showed that sho 



CAUSES OF DESERTION, 25 

was careless how she provoked the coming struggle, which 
she probably now began to consider inevitable ; and tended 
to show that hostilities would soon break out between the 
sister republics, 

I cannot say how far the near prospect of a war may have 
operated upon the minds of recruits to cause desertion, but 
certainly the number of desertions at the period I speak 
of was very great. This crime I had imagined would be 
almost unknown, or of very ra?e occurrence in this army, 
where the period of service was limited to five years, and 
w'hich professed to treat its soldiers so liberally on all other 
points. But the practice of putting all recruits who join at 
Governor's Island during the summer months, into tents, 
where they are roasted as if in an oven during the day, and 
frequently drenched with wet, and starved with cold during 
the night, must produce a degree of disgust to the service in 
the mind of the recruit at the very outset. For a tent, 
though excellent accommodation to the soldier on a campaign 
(especially if one has been compelled to rough it for a week 
or two occasionally with the blue vault or the black sky for a 
canopy), is a miserable substitute for a substantial barracks. 
And it certainly must produce a rather unpleasant impres- 
sion on the recruit, to reflect, that probably the most misera- 
ble loafer in New York is in a more comfortable lodging 
than himself. It is to this practice, together with the con- 
finement to the island, and the wretched system that prevails 
in regard to their food, that much of the desertion among 
the recruits is to be attributed. In fact, throughout the 
American service generally, desertion, though the only ofience 
for which the disgraceful punishment of flogging is permitted 
by the military code, is not looked upon in the light of a 
crime by the soldier. This is principally owing to the con- 
viction that they are not treated justly. No great amouut 

2 



26 ADVENTORES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

of logic is required to perceive that a contract, to be binding 
must bind both parties; but it would take a good deal to 
convince the soldier, that he is bound to observe an oath 
which he has taken under certain implied conditions, which 
he finds are not observed. 

The common method adopted by the recruits who wished 
to desert from Governor's Island, was to engage a boat to 
come over in the night time to take them off, while others 
trusted themselves and their fortunes to a single plank in 
the following manner. Watching when the tide was setting 
into the harbour, they fastened their clothes to a plank, and 
by swimming and holding on to it while they directed its 
course, with the assistance of it and the tide, they easily 
reached New York, or Brooklyn. One morning we missed 
two large tubs which we had made by sawing a hogshead 
in two, and which always stood at the pump, being used as 
washtubs by the recruits, who were under the necessity of 
scouring their own linen on the island. Many and various 
were the conjectures as to the missing utensils, until some 
one suggested the probability of their having been used to 
ferry over the two recruits who were reported absent that 
morning. This surmise was soon after confirmed by one of 
the permanent company who had been in New York on the 
previous night, and who stated, that he had seen two small 
strange-looking craft, answering to our description of the 
missing tubs, paddling, in the gray twilight of the morning, 
alongside one of the wharfs in New York, where there is 
little doubt that their adventurous navigators effected a safe 
landing. 

A rather ludicrous circumstance happened to a captain of 
a schooner who picked up one of these deserters in the bay. 
The deserter had left Governor's Island c»n a plank, and 
having miscalculated the run of the tide, he was rapidly 



CATCHING A TARTAR. 27 

drifting out to sea, when he was seen and picked up hy the 
schooner. It would seem, however, that the poor fellow had 
only escaped one danger to run into another, for the captain, 
on questioning him, and finding that he was a deserter, not 
being of those who think that a good action is its own 
reward, resolved upon obtaining the more tangible one of 
thirty dollars, the sum paid for the apprehension of a deser- 
ter, by delivering him up to the authorities as soon as they 
should arrive at New York. However, he concealed his 
design from his intended victim, to whom he appeared ex- 
ceedingly kind and attentive, giving him a good stiff" glass 
of grog, and some dry clothes, to wear until his own were 
dried. On arriving at the wharf he told him he had busi- 
ness ashore, and recommended* him to stay where he was 
until evening, as there was danger of his being apprehended 
should he go on shore in daylight. At all events he was 
not to think of going till he should return. So saying, and 
locking the cabin door upon the deserter, he went oft' to Go- 
vernor's Island to procure a party of soldiers for his appre- 
hension. 

Meanwhile the deserter was not idle or asleep, and having 
" smelt a rat" from the captain's manner, especially from tlio 
circumstance of his having locked the cabin door, he resolved 
upon turning the tables upon him. The result of this reso- 
lution was, that on the return of the captain with a party of 
soldiers, he found that not only had he lost his trouble, but 
that during his absence his chest had been broken open, 
and a considerable sum of money, together wdth a valuable 
silver lever watch, had been abstracted by the miserable- 
looking wretch on whom he had calculated for turning in 
thirty dollars. The captain, who looked extremely foolish, 
had evidently caught a Tartar instead of a deserter, being 
minus sixty, instead of plus thirty dollars, and in place of 



28 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

receiving sympatliy was laugliecl at by all wlio heard the 
story. Wliat added flavour to the jest among the recruits, 
was the curious, half-witted, and simple looks of the deserter, 
who was generally considered deficient in intellect, but who 
clearly proved himself more rogue than fool upon this occa- 
sion. 

In order to check the frequency of desertion, great efforts 
were made to apprehend some of the soldiers in the act of 
escaping from the island, for the purpose of inflicting a pun- 
ishment that might deter others from following their ex- 
ample. At length, having succeeded in apprehending two 
who were trying to cross in a small boat to Brooklyn, the 
commanding oflicer immediately caused a court-martial to 
be summoned for their trial; and after the lapse of a few 
days, during which the proceedings of the court were sent to 
the commander-in-chief for his approval, the prisoners were 
brought out on parade to receive sentence and punishment. 
Both of them having been proved guilty of the crime of 
desertion, were sentenced to "undergo the infliction of a 
corporal punishment of fifty lashes on the bare back with a 
raw cowhide, and further to have their heads shaved, and be 
drummed out of the service with ignominy." 

They were young and good-looking men, one of them a 
native of the States, the other a German, and both received 
their punishment, which was inhumanly severe, with admira- 
ble fortitude. A number of the recruits were compelled to 
fall out of the ranks and go to the rear, owing to a sensation 
of faintness caused by witnessing this exhibition of modern 
torture. This is a common occurrence with young men, 
both officers and soldiers, many of whom seem to suffer 
nearly as much as the recipient, at witnessing these barba- 
rous punishments for the first time. Fifty lashes is the full 
extent of corporal punishment that can be inflicted in th* 



EXEMPLARY PUNISHMENT. 29 

American army, and tliat only for tlie crime of desertion ; 
but as far as physical suffering is concerned, or the damage 
done to the constitution by that inhuman mode of punish- 
ment, fifty lashes with a cowhide are fully equivalent tp 
three hundred with a cat, such as is used in the British 
army. 

After being flogged, the prisoners were marched back to 
the guardhouse, where they had their heads shaved bare, in 
pursuance of their sentence. Next morning they were 
brought out to the parade-gi'ound under the charge of a file 
of the guard, and marched from thence round the garrison, 
a fifer and drummer playing a tune specially used on these 
occasions called the " Rogues' March," being the same tune 
used in the British service on a like occasion. They were 
then marched down to the wharf, and sent over in the 
garrison boat to New York. A subscription was secretly 
got up, and several dollars collected for them among the 
recruits, by whom their condition was generally commiserat- 
ed, though some of them did not hesitate to say that they 
considered them lucky fellows, and had better be flogged 
and drummed out, than shot up in Texas or Mexico, 



CHAPTER III. 

Embarkation at the Battery — Yankee opinion of Soldiers — ^Fort 
Adams — New Comrades — Defects of Organization — Routine of 
Duties — Life in Quarters. 

About tlie latter end of the month of August a draft of 
forty recruits were ordered to Fort Adams, Rhode Island, 
to complete two companies of artillery stationed there. I 
had the good fortune to be included in the number selected 
for this draft, and was happy at any prospect which promised 
a relief from the disagreeable confinement of Governor's Island. 
About five o'clock on the evening of the thirty-first August 
we got on board a sloop belonging to the garrison, which 
landed us at the Custom-house wharf near the battery. There 
we were met by a crowd of idlers, who gathered round us, 
curious to have a look at the soldiers who they imagined 
were ordered to Texas to fight the Mexicans ; the most trivial 
movement of troops being magnified into an event by the 
rumour of the approaching war with Mexico. We marched 
round the Battery to the wharf on the North River, where 
we went on board a steamboat, and shortly after started 
amidst the cheers of a crowd of urchins, several of these pre- 
cocious juveniles, apparently not more than ten years of age, 
shouting with intensity of glee at the idea of the fun, " O 
won't they give the Mexicans hell ?" But, " as the old cock 
crows, the young one learns," as the old proverb has it. 

For some time after starting, we amused ourselves by ad- 
miring the delightful villas and beautiful scenery of both the 



INTERCHANGE OF CIVILITIES. 31 

Manhattan and Long Island side of the channel, which 
glowed in the rich mellow colouring of the autumnal sun- 
set like the realms of a fairy land. But evening soon closed 
over us, and as Ave were at our destination early next morn- 
ing, we had little opportunity of seeing much of the scenery 
on our voyage, however much we might have been disposed 
to admire it. Our men were directed by the officer in com- 
mand of our party to keep together in the fore part of the 
boat during the night, and to sleep on the deck in the best 
manner we could. As the night air at that season of the 
year was beginning to feel rather cold, we grumbled a little 
at this arrangement, but there was no help for it. The boat 
was full of passengers, a few^ of whom occasionally entered 
familiarly into conversation with the soldiers, and showed 
their good breeding by various acts of civility and kindness. 
But we could scarcely help remarking that the majority of 
them seemed to look upon us in the light of a degraded 
caste, and seemed to think that there was contamination in 
the touch of a soldier ; for it is a singular fact that though 
Jonathan is so vain of his military prowess, and a little too 
apt to boast of the wonderful exploits of those armies of his 
that can whip all creation so easily, it is only in the collec- 
tive term, or as an abstract idea ; he is exceedingly shy of the 
individuals who compose it. In reply to some casual obser- 
vation made by a fellow passenger upon our appearance on 
board, I chanced to overhear an old fellow of most vinegar- 
looking aspect drily remark, " Ay, ay ! they are a fine set 
of candidates for the States prison." I was standing partly 
concealed by some boxes that stood upon deck, and to do the 
old fellow justice, I believe he did not intend that his remark 
should reach a soldier's ears : however, I could not resist the 
impulse of the moment which prompted me to repeat for his 
edification Sir John's reply to Prince Hal, when criticising 



32 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

his soldiers rather too curiously, " Tut, tut, good enough cc 
toss, food for powder, food for powder ; they'll fill a pit aa 
well as better : tush, man, mortal men, mortal men." My 
quotation, while it rather took the old fellow by surprise, and 
raised a smile among a few of the surrounding passengers, 
had the more substantial effect of being the means of pro- 
curing me a good bed that night ; a luxury which I believe I 
was the only one of the party who enjoyed. A young gen- 
tleman overhearing the conversation, in whom I afterwards 
discovered an enthusiastic admirer of the " Mighty Poet," in- 
vited me to take a glass of brandy. We afterwards engaged 
in a conversation, which being enlivened and promoted by 
an occasional tribute to Bacchus and a fresh supply of cigars, 
lasted until pretty late in the night. Upon getting up to go to 
bed, and learning that I was to sleep on deck, he said, that 
must be a mistake, but he would rectify it : and going to the 
steward, he immediately returned with a ticket for a berth^ 
which he gave me, nor would he hear of thanks for his kind- 
ness ; insisting that it cost him nothing, and that the circum- 
stance of the soldiers sleeping on deck must have originated 
in a mistake. I hardly knew what to think of it at the time, 
but afterwards upon reflection I felt convinced that he had 
paid the steward for the accommodation, which he wished to 
offer me in this delicate manner. Bidding him a friendly 
good night, I availed myself of my ticket oj going down 
below, where I found a good bed, and slept comfortably untii 
roused by beat of drum next morning. On getting upon 
deck I found we were near our destination, being opposite 
Fort Adams, which is about a mile fi'om the town of New- 
port, where we landed, but as the road from Newport to the 
Fort skirts a deep bay, we found the distance by land about 
three miles. 

We had now reached the head-quarters of our regiment. 



ARRIVAL AT HEAD-QUARTERS. 33 

and liaving taken off our knapsacks, rested a little, cleaned 
ourselves, and taken breakfast, we were marched to the hos- 
pital to undergo a final medical inspection. Stripping off all 
our clothes at the door of a large apartment, each of us 
entered in succession, one going in as the other came out. 
I could scarcely help smiling when in marching into the 
room in puris naturalibus, the surgeon thus addressed me, 
"So, an old British soldier, I suppose?" which taking for 
granted, without waiting for any answer, he continued, 
" Have you been much in hospital while in the British 
service ?" I told him I had enjoyed very good health while 
serving there. He then asked me how long I had served, 
where stationed, and in what regiment, and, after making 
me walk about a little and extend my arms, dismissed me. 
I admired his acuteness in thus telhng at a glance that I 
had served in the British army, for as our names were not 
called as we entered, he could not have ascertained the fact 
except from observation. The result of the examination 
was, that we were all without exception declared fit for 
service ; indeed it rarely happens that recruits are rejected 
on joining their regiments, as they are minutely examined 
by the surgeon at the recruiting station where they enlist. 

We were now to be told off to our respective companies, 
an important event to the soldier, as each company forms a 
separate and distinct family, from which dm-ing his five 
years' period of service he is seldom transferred. It is true 
these companies are all subject to the same general regu- 
lations, but their whole internal economy, discipline, and the 
general comfort of the men are altogether dependent on the 
methods adopted, and the interest manifested in its arrange- 
ments by the ofiScer intrusted with its command. Company 
K, commanded by Captain Taylor, and company I, com- 
manded by Lieutenant Capron, were the two companies 

2^ 



34 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

stationed at Fort Adams at that time. We were to be 
distributed between these two, and the simple method ol 
taking a man alternately from the top to the bottom of the 
roll having been decided on as the most fair and impartial, I 
found myself at the end of the proceedings, along with nine- 
teen more of my comrades, told oflf to company I. 

We were now shown to our quarters, large, arched, bomb- 
proof rooms. They were tolerably comfortable, with the 
exception of the wooden bedsteads, and the exceedingly 
disagreeable custom, still universal in the United States 
service, of sleeping two in a bed — a custom which has been 
abolished in every barrack in Great Britain, and the Colo- 
nies, to the infinite comfort of the soldier, for the last twenty 
years. The orderly, or chief sergeant of the company, a. 
rank which corresponds with that of colour sergeant in the 
British service, told us ofi" in twos, and appointed the beds 
we were to occupy ; affixing a label with the names of the 
occupants upon each. I happened luckily to get a very 
good comrade, the usual term for a bed-fellow in the army. 
He was an Englishman, named Bill Nutt, a regular cockney ; 
who had been brought up in London to the trade of a carver 
and gilder, by his father, once a respectable master-trades- 
man in that business there. He had run away from home 
when a boy, and served a three years' cruise in a British 
man-of-war, where he had "seen a little sarvice," having 
been, to use his own language, "in a bit of a shindy 
with the Dutch boors at the Cape of Good Hope." He was a 
witty, pleasant young fellow, and a general favourite with the 
men for his cheerful temper, and good nature. Still, a real 
specimen of the John Bull family, he was keenly sensitive to 
any ill-natured reflections thrown uj^on his country, or her 
institutions. He also felt grievously annoyed at the insolent 
and impertinent tone assumed by native Americans to all 



A MISCELLANEOUS COMPANY. 36 

foreigners ; indeed I learnt that he had left several work- 
shops in New York from quarrels arising out of this circum- 
stance. 

Company I to which I now belonged, though nominally 
artillery, had precisely the same duties to perform as in- 
fantry; being armed with muskets, and in every respect 
equipped and drilled in the same manner, with the 
exception of an occasional drill at the battery guns of the 
Fort. The company, after having received our draft of 
twenty recruits, consisted of sixty men, including non-com- 
missioned oflBcers and privates ; of these, two were English; 
four Scotch, seven Germans, sixteen Americans, and the 
remainder Irish. Such was its composition at the time I 
entered, but in the American sei-vice a company soon under- 
goes a change in its component parts. During the five 
years which I served, from the combined causes of deaths, 
desertions, and discharges, more than two-hundred-and-fifty 
had joined it ; although its strength never exceeded one- 
hundred-and-twelve, to which it was augmented while in the 
city of Mexico, being then a light battery. The infantry 
companies were also augmented to about eighty privates 
each, during the war with Mexico. 

The short period of service in the American army has 
obvious disadvantages. The men, from being so frequently 
changed, never seem to acquire that feeling of brotherly re- 
gard for one another, or any of that kindly forbearance, and 
good will, which a long acquaintance naturally produces ; 
and which helps so materially to form and promote the 
esprit du corps, which is found to animate more or less, 
according to the good or bad qualities of the officer com- 
manding, every regiment, troop, or company in the British 
service, as regards the mutual relation in which officers 
and soldiers ought to stand to each other. It has also 



S6 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO, 

the following prejudicial effect — the American officer, from 
want of a habit of strict attention to the management of his 
company, partly caused by the transitory interest he must 
feel in a perpetual current of strangers, becomes careless of 
either learning the characters, or caring for the interests of 
his men. Thus, frequently the seeds of distrust and ill-will 
are sown between the two classes ; a serious evil in the service, 
which sometimes produces a bitter result. A signal instance 
of this occurred at Churubusco in our Mexican campaign, of 
which I shall have to speak hereafter. 

We were now in better circumstances than we had been 
while on Governor's Island ; we had comfortable quarters in 
place of tents, and our diet was considerably improved by the 
produce of a garden, which belonged to the garrison; it 
being on ground belonging to the government, and planted 
and cultivated by the soldiers. The potatoes, cabbages, and 
onions, raised by their labour, formed a welcome addition to 
the rather indiiferent fare furnished to the soldier by govern- 
ment. The cheapness of dairy produce, too, at Rhode Island, 
where butter was sold at ten cents, or five pence a pound, 
and cheese at one half of that price, enabled us to improve 
our diet at a trifling expense. In addition to this abundance, 
fish of excellent quality were plentiful in the bay close at 
hand, where we could easily at any time catch a few trout, 
rock fish, flounders, lobsters, eels, crabs, and a variety of 
others, of a richness and flavour which might tempt the' 
palate of an epicure, and whose names I have forgotten at 
present, but a grateful recollection of whose merits remains 
in the catalogue of the good things of that period. In the 
intervals between the hours of drill we amused ourselves by 
fishing in the bay, by sea bathing, or by rambhng about the 
country in the vicinity of the garrison. Sometimes we went 
over to the town of Newport, a distance of about three miles 



THE RECRUIT AND THE SOiDIER. 37 

by the highway, but which a short cut through the fields 
reduced to two. To go more than a mile from the garrison 
without a written permission signed by an officer, is j^v- 
bidden by a regulation of the service, a soldier being liable 
to severe punishment for its infringement; but this rule is 
not often rigorously enforced, and officers seldom restrict 
their men to any particular distance from the garrison^ 
unless circumstances require it, as long as they are regular 
in their attendance on their duties, roll-calls, and parades. 

Recruits are treated with a certain degree of indulgence 
for some time after joining the regiment, or company, to 
which they belong. They are usually excused from the per- 
formance of all duty while learning their drill, a period of 
about two or three months. When the adjutant of the 
regiment, who is responsible for its discipline, considers the 
recruit sufficiently drilled, he dismisses him from drill, and 
sends him to duty, as it is termed ; he has then to take every 
duty in rotation. As soon as he mounts his first guard, he 
drops his title of recruit, which is thenceforth merged in that 
of soldier ; and proud of his newly acquired distinction, he 
speedily adopts the manners, customs, vices, and virtues of 
his model, to be like whom has been for some time the high- 
est object of his ambition. But if the recruit has gained in 
his own estimation by advancing to a level with the old 
soldier, he soon finds that the duties imposed upon him by 
his new position are a considerable drawback upon his newly 
attained dignity. In the first place he has to mount guard 
once every fourth day on an average ; this duty commences 
at nine or ten o'clock in the morning, and terminates at the 
same hour next morning. A soldier remains on guard for 
twenty-four hours in all ordinary cases, during which he is 
not permitted to put off" his clothes or accoutrements, or to 
quit his guard, even for an instant, without permission from 



38 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

the officers in charge of it. There are three sentries to each 
post, who are reheved every two hours in succession ; thus 
each man is two hours on post and four hours off, giving each 
eight hours sentry during his twenty-four hours on guard. 
When off post, he is permitted to stretch himself upon a 
sloped wooden bench, with a wooden pillow, called the guard- 
bed, where he may sleep if he chooses, being at liberty to se- 
lect the softest boards he can find for that purpose, but strictly 
prohibited from taking off any of his accoutrements. When 
relieved from g-uard he cleans his musket and appointments, 
which, with an hour or two of drill, occupies his time until 
evening. 

The next duty to be performed is that of " general police," 
all who came off guard on the day previous being appointed 
for that work. The principal duties of the general police are 
to clean the parade ground and the purlieus of the garrison, 
and to cut wood and carry water for the use of the officers 
and soldiers. They are under the superintendence of the 
orderly officer, a duty which is taken in rotation by all, 
except the commanding officer of the post. The orderly 
officer has also the supervision of the barrack guard, and the 
duties of the garrison generally ; all reports are made to him, 
and, in the event of any extraordinary occurrence, through 
him to the commanding officer ; in short, the duty corres- 
ponds to that of officer of the day in the English army. A 
very objectionable part of the duties required from the 
general police, and the source of a good deal of discontent, 
is a practice which exists of causing them to do a considera- 
ble portion of work for officers, which ought to be done by 
their own domestic servants. The men consider it quite 
reasonable that they should clean the garrison, and perform 
the necessary duties of cutting their own wood, and bringing 
water for their own use ; but they very naturally grumble at 



BREACH OF DISCIPLINE. 39 

doing tlie same for their officers, who they know are furnish- 
ed by government, in addition to their pay, with a Hberal 
allowance of money and rations, for the express purpose of 
providing themselves with servants from civil life. This 
custom of making the soldiers do the domestic drudgery of 
the officers' household, thus converting the soldier into a 
degraded menial, a Gibeonite hewer of wood and drawer of 
water, is universal throughout the American army, although 
at direct variance with the rules of the service. It has a 
most deteriorating eftect upon the character of the soldier, 
whom it renders disaffected to his officers and the service, » 
careless in his habits, and slovenly in his appearance. It is 
chiefly owing to this bad practice, I have no doubt, that the 
American soldier is so much inferior in smartness of appear- 
ance, and in the neatness of his uniform and appointments, 
to the English soldier, who is accustomed to see the rules of 
the service as stringently binding upon the officers as they 
are upon the men. What serves to render this breach of 
discipline more glaringly inexcusable, on the part of the 
American officers, is that the Commander-in-Chief, General 
Scott, aware of the existence of the practice, and the bad 
effects which it produces, has, time after time, issued circu- 
lars, calling the attention of officers to the existing regulations 
on this subject. These circulars, as directed, are frequently 
read on parade : and the perfect indifference with which the 
system is carried on, in open defiance of the prohibition, 
shows the complete degree of impunity with which an officer 
of the United States army may disregard the orders of a 
superior, however high his rank, when they happen to be 
disao:reeable to himself. 

These duties of mounting guard, and general police, are 
the principal part of the American soldier's duty w^hen in 
quarters ; in addition to these he is occasionally on company 



40 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

police, which consists in keeping the barrack rooms and pa* 
sages clean, and doing any work that the Captain or Orderly 
Sergeant may require in connection with company affairs. 
There is also the daily cleaning of his arms and appointments, 
a thing which a good soldier seldom neglects, and which 
generally occupies an hour or two ; and the usual drills and 
parades, which generally occupy two or three hours each 
day ; the remainder of his time is pretty much at his own 
disposal. 

While we remained at Fort Adams, we had a great num- 
ber of visitors from the town of Newport, which is a fashion- 
able resort in summer for sea bathing, and parties of ladies 
and gentlemen came over from it daily to look at the fort. 
Some of the old hands made a dollar now and then by acting 
as cicerone to one of these parties ; but the practice, upon 
what principle I must say I could not clearly perceive, was 
generally considered low and disreputable. The fortifications 
at Fort Adams are on a scale of great magnitude, and must 
have cost a great deal of money. They had been a number 
of years in progress of erection, and were not quite finished 
when we left. The fort commands the entrance to the Sound, 
and is a very strong and complete defence, having a series of 
subterranean passages connected with its interior defence, 
parts of which can be suddenly filled with water in a manner 
highly ingenious. There are also bombproof vaults, capable 
of accommodating a suflScient force for the garrison of the 
place, which has an immense number of very heavy guns on 
its various batteries. 

While we lay at Fort Adams, we had church service per- 
formed in one of the barrack rooms every Thursday evening, 
by a Methodist preacher from town. This was in consequence 
of the distance being too great to march the men to church 
in town upon Sunday. The attendance not being compul* 



ORDERS TO MOVE. 41 

soiy, very few of the men went, but our officers, with their 
wives and children, attended regularly, with as many of the 
men as they could persuade, a thing which they sometimes 
tried with but indifferent success. I recollect hearing a Lieu- 
tenant ask one of the men, whom he met in the square as he 
was going over to church service, if he would not come over 
and hear a sermon. " Heaven forbid, sir," was the reply of 
honest Dennis O'Tool, a Munster man, and a staunch Catho- 
lic. " Eh ! what's that you say, Dennis ?" said the Lieutenant, 
in a bantering tone. " Sure, Lieutenant, the Blessed Virgin 
knows I'm bad enough already, without sinning my soul any 
more by going to hear a swaddling preacher mocking the 
holy religion," was the reply of Dennis ; at which the Lieu- 
tenant's wife lifted up her eyes in pious horror, while the 
Lieutenant himself went away laughing heartily. 

The regiment I had joined had been expecting a change 
of station for some time, and about a fortnight after the 
arrival of our draft, the order came for us to be in readiness 
to proceed to Florida. Most of the old hands were sorry to 
leave good quarters and a healthy situation like Fort Adams ; 
many of them had formed acquaintances and connections in 
the town of Newport also, which made them still more sorry 
at leaving. The recruits, however, seemed rather pleased at 
the idea of change, and the bustling interest and excitement 
of a sea voyage and change of scene had its charms for some. 
For my own part I believe I felt rather indifferent on th? sub- 
ject. We were to go to Boston, where we would tak« ship- 
ping for Pensacola. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Departure from Fort Adams — Providence — Robbing the Orchard- 
Boston — Life in a Transport — the Captain and the Nigger. 

On the morning of the 13th. of September, ha\dng put our 
baggage on board, our head-quarters, consisting of the band 
and the two companies K and I, embarked in the steamer at 
the Garrison Wharf. As we sailed past the wharf at New- 
port, to which we came very close, the captain of the steamer 
directed the speed to be lessened, to enable us to bid farewell 
to our friends, who were assembled on the wharf to see us 
pass, and wave us their adieus. On leaving, they gave us 
three hearty cheers, which we as heartily returned. Our 
band struck up Yankee Doodle, and the flutter of scarfe and 
handkerchiefs was soon lost in the far distance. 

It was a fine sunny morning, and enlivened by the strains 
of a good band of music, and the view of some fine river 
scenery, we soon had more the appearance of a pleasure 
party than a detachment of Uncle Sam's troops, ordered to a 
distant and disagreeable post. The green undulating banks 
of the clear, smooth, and wide stream, which lined the sandy 
or pebbled beach of a succession of sylvan coves, were dotted 
here and there with neat cottages. Farm-houses peeped 
occasionally through a clump of trees on some gentle rising 
eminence, round which one might see the plough had been 
at work, from the lively alternations of colour which distin- 
guished these portions of the landscape. But the land seemed 
principally occupied with the pastui-age of cattle, large herds 



INVASION OF AN ORCHARD. 43 

of which were grazing close to the water's edge, and adding 
to the picturesque effect of the scene. On sailing up to the 
wharf at Providence, I observed several whale vessels lying 
close up ; their appearance was not very in\dting, and from 
what I have since learned of these craft, I think I should 
almost prefer another campaign in Mexico to a three years* 
cruize in one of them. 

Providence is a neat and thriving place, like most of the 
New England towns, very clean, quiet, and orderly. Yet 
there is a considerable appearance of bustle about it : it 
contains several cotton mills, and is finely situated in a plea- 
sant and healthy locality. But we had no time to go through 
it, as we had to take our baggage from the steam-boat and 
put it into the railway cars ; this being done, we got into the 
cars ourselves, and started immediately for Boston. We 
passed through a rather sterile country from Providence to 
Boston, relieved and diversified occasionally by a farm-house, 
a neat village, or a few smiling orchards. A nicely white- 
washed cotton factory also now and then enlivened the 
landscape, but the grey rocks, dwarf timber, and stunted fir 
trees, gave ample proof of the general poverty of the soil, 
which is principally occupied in raising stock and grazing 
cattle. 

Our progress by the railway was rather slow, for a wheel 
belonging to one of the cars having broken, we had to wait 
until it was repaired or replaced. In the meantime, we got 
out of the cars, and having found our way, in an evil hour 
for their owners, into some of the orchards near the road, we 
helped ourselves plentifully to the apples and peaches with 
which the trees were loaded. Soldiers, especially on the 
march, seem to have exceedingly imperfect and confused 
ideas on the subject of meum and tuum. On the present 
occasion, I believe the most conscientious among us considered 



44 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

ourselves completely exculpated by tlie fact, that being hot 
and thirsty, we could find no good water to drink. Besides, 
I dare say there was a sort of vindictive pleasure in tliis sort 
of spoiling of the Egyptians : were we not going on a long 
voyage to a distant and unhealthy post, wdiile the owners of 
these apples and peaches were living at home at ease ! " Faith, 
it may be a long time before we see an apple orchard again," 
remarked one, as he industriously filled his havresack with 
the fruit. A long time certainly ! Many of the poor fellows 
never entered another orchard, and never will ! Two years 
afterwards, when rambling with some of my comrades through 
a beautiful orchard near St. Augustine, a small town on one 
of the most deliciously fertile and richly cultivated skirts of 
the valley of Mexico, I recalled to their mind the conversa- 
tion we had held while plundering the orchard by the way- 
side, ^s the cars were being repaired. In the short space of 
two years we had got almost an entirely new company. 
There v/ere only about a third of the original number remain- 
ing, who had left Fort Adams two years previously — deaths, 
discharges, and desertions had made awful inroads on oui 
community. 

We arrived at Boston about four o'clock in the afternoon, 
and after transferring our baggage from the railway cars to 
waggons, we marched through the city with our regimental 
colors displayed, and our band playing in front, which 
attracted a great crowd around us. On our way through th« 
common, we got a glimpse of the famous Bunker's Hill 
monument. 

"A very common-place looking afiair, but a remarkable 
monument for all that," observed Bill Nutt, " it being tha 
only monument known to exist that has been erected to com- 
memorate a defeat." 

" Arrah, whisht with your blather, man, don't you per 



AN ARBITRARY PROHIBITION. 4o 

ceive the illegant allegory of the thing ; it's onl}' a standing 
real genuine American bull, set up in opposition to the old 
English one," said Paddy Bynne. 

We had no opportunity of seeing much of the city of 
Boston, as we were marched on board the ship in which we 
were going, as soon as we arrived at the wharf where she 
lay. It was a fine large new vessel, called the Albatross, of 
about one thousand tons burden. She had been built for the 
cotton trade, and was to take in cotton at Mobile, after land- 
ing us at Pensacola. There were two other companies of our 
regiment on board, making four companies in all ; but each 
company was only about sixty strong, and we had not a great 
number of women and children, as several of the married 
men had left their wives and families behind, being near the 
expiration of their service. AVe had a fine large vessel, well 
fitted up, and had, therefore, more room and better accom- 
modation than commonly falls to the lot of soldiers aboard 
ship. 

We had not been long on board when a guard was mount- 
ed, and a number of sentries placed all around the deck, and 
at the gangway. These sentries had orders to prevent the 
men from going ashore without permission, the smuggling 
of spirits into the vessel for the use of the soldiers, and seve- 
ral things of that nature. These measures, I could plainly 
perceive, had only the efiect of making the men resort to a 
little more strategy in effecting their objects, which it was 
soon tolerably apparent had a diametrically opposite tendency 
to the tee-total principle. A number of the men, ha\dng applied 
for leave to go on shore for the purpose of procuring neces- 
saries for the voyage, were not only refused, but told that all 
such applications would be useless, as the commanding offi- 
cer was resolved to oTant no leave for either non-commissioned 
officer or soldiers to go on shore while in harbor. Thi? 



46 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

extreme caution of the commanding officer was bad policy, 
as it enlisted the sympathies of the sentries in favour of those 
who wished to go on shore ; the non-commissioned officers 
also, finding that they were prevented from going as well as 
the men, made common cause with them in endeavouring to 
nullify the arbitrary prohibition. As a consequence of this 
state of things, I could soon see that the sentry winked at 
all sorts of irregularities ; rather assisting to mystify his 
officers, by helping his comrades to elude their vigilance in 
going in and out of the vessel, than trying to detect or pre- 
vent them. The method commonly adopted to get out of the 
vessel was, to substitute a straw or tarpaulin hat, and a 
Guernsey frock, or red woollen shirt, for the soldier's cap and 
jacket. This disguise, so effective as to deceive the most 
acute of the officers, was easily procured from some of the 
sailors on board, and by means of it a constant communica- 
tion was kept up with the grog stores while we lay there, 
fortunately not a long period, being only during the next 
day and night. Thus, while our commanding officer, I have 
no doubt, flattered himself with the idea of his own sagacity, 
in refusing his men these indulgences, which it should have 
been his pleasure, as it certainly w^ould have been his best 
policy, as well as his duty, to have granted, he was weaken- 
ing his authority by stretching it too far — a more common 
mistake in the service than officers are at all apt to imagine. 
A rather ludicrous circumstance, which occurred while we 
lay here, helped to enliven a little the usual monotony of a 
ship's deck while in harbor. A comical sort of felloAv, of the 
name of Morris, belonging to one of the companies on board, 
who used to sing Nigger songs, and who, being a very good 
mimic, could act the Nigger admirably, resolved to turn his 
talents to account by assuming the character while in harbor, 
and passing himself off" among his comrades, except a fey 



AN AMUSING COMEDY. 47 

who were in his confidence, as a black cook belonging to the 
ship — his twofold motive for thus " working the dodge." as 
he styled it, being partly the fun he expected from the mys- 
tification of the men and oflScers, and partly that he might 
be allowed to bring whiskey into the ship, there being no 
hindrance to the ship's crew bringing goods on board, as our 
sentries could not interfere with them. Borrowing, therefore, 
an old pair of canvas trousers, a Guernsey shirt, and tar- 
paulin hat from a sailor, and thoroughly engraining his face 
and hands with the sooty composition requisite to give him 
the true Ethiopian complexion, he became quite invulnerable 
to detection by his coat of darkness. In this disguise ho 
rolled about the deck during the whole of the forenoon in a 
partial state of intoxication, and came and went between the 
vessel and shore, carrying baskets and parcels of suspicious 
import with the most perfect impunity. Towards evening, 
he began to sing snatches of Nigger songs, varying the exhi- 
bition with a " flare-up" jawing match with some of the sol- 
diers, in the sort of gibberish and broken English so peculiar 
to the woolly-headed sons of Ham. This comedy aflbrded 
considerable amusement, especially to those of his comrades 
in the secret of his disguise. As he was dexterous in the 
tongue fence of those encounters of rude wit, and knowing 
the chinks in the armor of his opponents, he was sometimes 
able, by a seemingly careless though cunning thrust, to ad- 
minister a sickener to their vanity, which was the more galling 
as seeming to come from a dirty and half-drunken Nigger. 
" Ah, soger," he would say tc sorae poor fellow whom he 
saw casting a longing eye towards the busy thoroughfares of 
the city, " captain not let you go shore, eh ? Too bad, eh ? 
much sooner be black ship's cook than soger." " What's that 
you say, you Nigger ?" would most probably be the reply of 
the soldier, not being in the best temper, and rather indig- 



48 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN" MEXICO. 

nant at tlie idea of being an object of commiseration to a 
Nigger. " Who you call Nigger, eh ? Nigger yourself, sar ; 
more Nigger, a good sight, than ship's cook, sar ; ship's coot 
go ashore when he please, and get drunk like gentleman, sar ; 
you a white soger Nigger, me black ship's cook Nigger — dat 
all de difference." Then, as if in soliloquy, in a deprecatory 
tone, " Eh ! by Jorze, boff poor Niggers ; soger moss as spec- 
table as colored Nigger when he keep heself sober and 
behave screetly, like color gemman." Stung and irritated by 
the mock sympathy of the Nigger, the soldier would now be 
for taking a summary revenge out of his ignoble carcase, 
when some of the darkey's friends would interpose, declaring 
that he was a good fellow, and they would not see him ill- 
used. In the meantime, Morris was supposed by the orderly 
sergeant of his company to be absent in town, and as such 
reported to the captain. Thus far, all had gone on swim- 
mingly ; but there was a bit of a rather unpleasant surprise 
preparing for him as the denouement to this farce, which he 
had acted with so much success, which had probably not 
entered into his conception of the character, but mightily 
increased the dramatic effect of the representation as a 
whole. 

The captain of his company, who was a bit of a hu- 
mourist, either having detected the masquerader himself, or 
having been informed by some busy person of the strange 
metamorphosis which one of his men had undergone, it 
occurred to him that he had an opportunity of giving him a 
taste of Nigger discipline, that might make him feel more 
vividly the character he had been representing with so much 
applause. Sauntering, accordingly, along the deck, with his 
hands behind him, until he arrived opposite the circle where 
Morris was exhibiting his antics, he deliberately stepped for- 
ward and seized him by the collar, and pulling out a raw 



THE DENOUEMENT OF THE COMEDY. 49 

cowfiido, from behind liis back, he began to vigorously bela- 
bour poor darkey's shoulders. " Lor, massa ! Golly ! 
What you trike poor debil for ? What hell dis ?" shouted Mor- 
ris, who had no idea that he was discovered, and was willing 
to submit to a moderate degree of chastisement rather than 
drop his disguise at that particular juncture. " You infer- 
nal grinning scoundrel," cries the captain, still vigorously 
applying the cowhide, " I have been watching you quarrelling 
with and aggravating my men all this afternoon ; what do 
you mean, you black rascal, eh ? Curse your ugly black 
countenance, Fll beat you to a jelly, you scoundrel." As he 
still continued his discipline with the cowhide, showing no 
symptoms of speedily leaving oft", Morris, who was smarting 
with pain, at last began to think more of preserving his skin 
than his incognito, and called out lustily, " Captain, I say — 
stop ! I am no Nigger — I am a soldier !" At this there 
was a general burst of laughter from the soldiers, who 
crowded round, and seemed to enjoy the scene amazingly ; 
those who did not know that Morris was actually a soldier, 
laughing still more obstreperously at the seeming absurdity 
of the Nigger's assertion. The captain, though evidently 
tickled, seemed in no hurry to let him go : " Do you hear the 
impudence of the black rascal ? he says he is a soldier !" 
said the captain, addressing the men who were standing 
round. " There, does he look like a soldier ?" he continued, 
as he turned him round for inspection. " Go along, you 
black rascal, and don't let me catch you among my men 
again, or I will certainly serve you out with a few more of 
the same sort." So saying, and administering a few parting 
salutations of the cowhide as he released him, the captain 
walked off, chuckling to himself at the joke, Avhich I saw 
him relating afterwards to some of his brother officers, to 
their infinite mirth, if one might judge from the peals of 

3 



60 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

laughter wliicli liis story elicited. In the meantime, Morris 
was fain to get rid of his Nigger cliaracter as quickly as pos- 
sible ; and having, with the aid of warm water and soap, 
effected this, he made his appearance on deck, and reported 
himself as having been asleep in the hold when the roll was 
called. This the sergeant reported to the captain, who, satis- 
fied, it is probable, with the punishment he had administered 
with the cowhide, affected to believe his statement, and sent 
him word by the sergeant to take better care in future. 

While we lay at the wharf, we had a crowd of inquisitive 
idlers in constant attendance round the vessel, all of whoin 
seemed particularly anxious to learn our destination. To the 
often-repeated question on this all-absorbing topic, the inva- 
riable answer was that we were going to Mexico. This being 
in the most perfect accordance with the preconception, as 
well as the ideas of propriety of the inquirer, was of course 
perfectly satisfactory, and therefore implicitly believed. The 
fact is, that had they been told the simple truth that wo 
were going to Florida, they would either have suspected their 
informant of telling a lie, or considered him ignorant of the 
true destination. They had made up their minds that we 
were going to Mexico, and our men thought it just as well 
to agi-ee with them for the short time we were to be in their 
company. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Soldier at Sea. 

About nine o'clock, on the morning of the 17th, the tide 
being full, we unmoored ship, and with a fair wind, stood out 
of harbour. With a fine, steady, though light breeze, we 
sailed pleasantly past forts and light-houses, gliding along by 
a miserably barren-looking coast, consisting for the most part 
of strangely rugged and fantastic looking piles of grey and 
weather-beaten rocks, and low sandy islets, covered with 
rushes or stunted grass, the only sign of vegetation visible. 
In the evening we caught a glimpse of Cape Cod in the dis- 
tance, but passed it during the night, and on the morning of 
the 18th we found ourselves on the open sea. 

A soldier at sea generally finds himself very disagreeably 
situated. Accustomed to strict personal cleanliness, and in 
the habit of keeping his arms and appointments in a high 
state of order when in quarters, he feels completely out of 
his element in a transport, where, even under the most 
favourable circumstances, he is utterly unable to attend to a 
number of those things so essential to his feelings of com- 
fort. On the present occasion, however, we were more com- 
fortably situated than is usually the case with soldiers in a 
government transport, the vessel we were in being double 
the size ot that we were entitled to by the rules of the ser- 
vice. Yet we were by no means too comfortable, or in pos- 
session of a great deal of superfluous space ; the fact is, that 
in ordinary cases soldiers are usually stowed away when at 



52 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

sea, more like cattle, or liogs, on a Dublin and Liverpool 
steamer, tlian liunian beings ; and the exemption from tMs in 
the present instance was hailed as a blessing. But this cir- 
cumstance, so much in our favour, was not caused by any 
extraordinary or particular extension of courtesy or kindness 
shown to us by those in authority. It arose simply from the 
Albatross being in want of a cargo for Mobile, a port within 
a short distance of the one we were destined to, and where 
she was to ship a cargo of cotton for Liverpool. A vessel of 
half the size, if specially chartered for the purpose, would 
have cost government as much, or probably more ; while 
adding most incalculably to our discomfort, and giving rise 
to innumerable heinous infractions of the third command- 
ment, had the present chance not turned up in our favour. 

The arrangements for accommodation between decks, were 
muoh the same as those usually made in emigrant vessels ; 
a row of two berths, one above the other, ran along each side 
of the vessel, and a third similar one in the centre ; leaving 
a tolerably wide passage on each side of the centre row as a 
gangway. A portion of the hold was separated by a boarded 
partition, for the use of the married people. In time of 
peace, three married men of each company are allowed 
(their wives being laundresses, and washing for the soldiers,) 
to bring their families along with them when moving. Each 
of these married men is allowed separate quarters for 
himself and family when in garrison, also rations for his 
wife, who is paid a stated sum by each soldier for whom they 
wash. When one of these married men is discharged, if 
more applicants than one should apply for the vacant situa- 
tion, the Captain gives it to the one he considers the best de- 
serving. When going on active service, neither officers nor 
soldiers are permitted to take their wives or families along 
with them. 



HOW TO TREAT SEA-SICKNESS. 53 

On the evening of the 18th, the breeze having freshened, 
a number of the men began to experience the usual efiects 
produced on the stomach of a land-lubber by the motion of 
a vessel at sea. Of course we had a repetition of a few of 
those mouldy old practical jests which have been in use on 
board ship on these occasions from time immemorial ; those 
in the enjoyment of their usual health and spirits seeming to 
consider the unfortunate individuals suffering from this an- 
noying sickness fair game, and a legitimate object of mirth, 
in place of sympathy. One of the oldest jokes perpetrated 
on these occasions, must be familiar to every soldier who has 
ever made a sea voyage, and is played-off somewhat after the 
following manner. The hoaxer pretending great sympathy 
with the sufferings of the afflicted, states that he has heard 
of a most excellent remedy, of simple and easy application, 
and certain in its results. Should he succeed in engaging 
the interest and attention of his audience, the insidious de- 
sign of the hoaxer is accomplished ; he immediately pro- 
ceeds to describe the simple and never-known-to-fail remedy, 
which consists of the following recipe, " Take a good large 
slice of fat pork tied to a string." The bare mention of fat 
pork, without the rank atrocity and diabolical intent implied 
in the attached string, is quite sufficient to raise the gorge 
of his intended victims, who seldom wait to hear the conclu- 
sion of the recipe ; while the hoaxer shows the cloven hoof 
by an obstreperous and demoniacal fit of laughter as the 
pale faces flit past him to lean over the bulwarks, and won- 
der, while paying their tribute to Neptune, what pleasure one 
rational being can derive from the sufierings of another. 

This practice of turning the sufferings of the sea-sick into 
ridicule, and which seems so strange and unfeeling, arises, I am 
inclined to think, from a good rather than a bad motive ; 
owing its origin, probably, to the circumstance that tho 



64 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

exertion requisite to overcome sea-sickness and its consequent 
torpor, is most effectually promoted by tlie fear of this ridi- 
cule. I liave often seen strong men, from a want of the 
requisite energy to throw off this torpor and counteract its 
effects by moderate exercise and the fresh air of the deck, 
sink into a critically dangerous state of illness, nearly ending 
in death from exhaustion, the stomach ceasing to perform its 
functions, and the whole frame being reduced to a mere 
skeleton. 

The sailors on board ship are always told off into two 
watches, one of which is constantly kept upon deck for the 
performance of the necessary work of the vessel. These 
watches relieve each other every four hours, but in a gale, or 
when a sudden squall is apprehended, all hands remain con- 
stantly on deck until the danger is supposed to be over. 
Soldiers being reckoned worse than useless in a gale of wind, 
are bundled below with very small ceremony when the wea- 
ther looks dangerous, with the occasional exception of a few 
of the more active, retained to assist the seamen. Owing to 
the dislike of the soldiers to remain below, it sometimes hap- 
pens that the Caj^tain or mate of the vessel finds it necessary 
to complain to the officer of the day, that the soldiers are in 
the way of their men in working the ship. In this case the 
officer gives instruction to the sergeant of the guard, who soon 
sees all the soldiers down below ; after which the gratings 
are put on the hatchways, and a sentry placed over each, 
with orders to allow none of the men to come upon deck. 
In the meantime the scene below is one of " most admired 
disorder," women ejaculating, children screaming, soldiers 
cursing, swearing, singing, dancing, and making every sort 
of uncouth and dissonant noise imaginable, a few of the more 
energetic radicals, locofocos, or physical force chartists, ha- 
ranguing their comrades meanwhile upon the propriety of 



SCENES IN A TROOP-SHIP. 65 

brciikiiig the hatches open, and forcing their way upon deck 
in spite of the sentry, and the arbitrary and tyrannical pro- 
hibition of the officer of the day, a proposition usually hailed 
with acclamation and adopted nem. con. But, ere " screwing 
their courage to the sticking point," -^The native hue of 
resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought," and 
the suggestion thrown out by some milk-and-water moral 
force advocate, relative to the pains and penalties attached 
to mutiny, and deforcement of sentries, in the " Articles of 
War^'' cautions the rash and fiery spirits of incipient rebellion, 
that "tis better to bear those ills they have, than fly to 
others which they know not of." And thus this enterprise 
of such pith and moment, like most of those of the physical 
force chartists, ends in "mei-e sound and fury, signifying 
nothing." This confinement, however, being only for the 
purpose of preventing the sailors from being impeded in their 
work while taking in sail, seldom lasts more than half an 
hour, or an hour. As soon as everything is snug upon deck, 
the gratings are removed from the hatchways ; and glimpses 
of light, and hope, and currents of fresh air, circulate through 
the hold once more ; while our moral force advocate emerg- 
ing from the pestiferous atmosphere, triumphs in the progress 
of a rational sanitary reform. 

Soldiers on board ship are usually told off" into three 
watches ; this is done to prevent the over-crowding the hold, 
by keeping one third of their number constantly on deck ; 
each watch remainins: four hours on deck in succession. On 
the present occasion the custom of telling off into watches 
was dispensed with, very much to our satisfaction ; the Alba- 
tross being large and roomy enough, in the opinion of the 
officer commanding, to render the observance of the regula- 
tion unnecessary. Still, throughout the whole of the voyage 
the rules for cleaning and ventilating the ship were strictly 



56 ADVENTURES 0¥ A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

maintained ; these being of the most essential importance to 
the health and comfort of troops on board ship, too much 
rigour can scarcely be used by officers in enforcing their 
observance. A sergeant, corporal, and twelve men mounted 
guard every morning at nine o'clock ; two sentries were 
posted between decks, one at each end of the vessel, for the 
purpose of preserving order, and taking charge of the lights 
which hung in large glass globe lamps, one at each hatch- 
way, during the whole night. Other two sentries were 
placed on deck, one having charge of the water cask, where 
our daily supply of fresh water w^as kept, to prevent any 
waste, or undue use of it; while the other had orders to 
check quarrelling, or gross improprieties, and preserve order 
generally on deck. Every morning immediately after guard 
mounting, all hands, men, women, and children, were turned 
upon deck ; unless in rough, or very wet weather, when the 
rule was not enforced. The police, consisting of the non- 
commissioned officers and men who came off guard on the 
previous morning, then went below, and scraped, and after- 
wards w^ashed the floor of the lower deck. Afterwards they 
fumigated between decks with tar, and sprinkled the floor 
with chloride of lime ; they also brought up a day's supply 
of fuel and fresh water from the lower hold for the use of the 
soldiers. The soldiers always brought up their own wood 
and water, and had a cook and cooking place of their own ; 
as well as being lodged in a distinct portion of the ship 
called the forecastle. After the hold had been cleaned, it was 
inspected by the officer of the day, to see that the duty had 
been properly performed, and that the bedding and clothes 
belonging to the men were neatly folded and arranged in 
their respective berths. In fine weather the whole of the bed 
ding was brought upon deck and well aired, and none of the 
men were permitted to go below without special permission, 



DEARTH OF LITERATURE. 67 

until the whole were allowed down in the evening. "When T 
speak here of bedding, I mean the soldier's blanket, which in 
the United States service he always carries along with him ; 
there are no mattresses for a soldier to lie upon on board ship 
in the American service. 

As these were all the duties we had to perform while on 
board, it will be seen that we had very little to do, or to 
occupy our attention during the greater portion of our time, 
which, as usual under like circumstances, hung heavy on our 
hands. The fortunate few who could obtain books, were 
assiduous in their endeavours to convert the tedium of a sea 
voyage into a source of enjoyment, but unfortunately tho 
supply of literature fell far short of the demand ; the natural 
result followed ; holders grew firm, and books were at an 
immense premium. I could scarce help fancying how exceed- 
ingly gratifying it would have been to the literary vanity of 
the authors of "The Bloody Bandit of the Lion's Glen," 
" The Mysterious Hand," and others of that genus, could they 
have witnessed the surprising request in which their produc- 
tions were held, and the apparent gusto with which their 
intensely melo-dramatic scenes ^2i<d devoured on board our 
vessel. It was truly wonderful, the sudden change wrought 
in the value of scraps of printed paper ; everything of which 
sort seemed to " suffer a sea change into something rich and 
strange." An old newspaper became suddenly invested with 
a remarkable degree of literary interest, and a dozen would 
have bespoken, and be waiting in rotation for the perusal of 
the fragment of some old third-rate novel, or antediluvian 
magazine, as eagerly as the most impatient reader watches 
for his favourite monthly. Under these circumstances, unless 
one had something to offer by way of quid 2Jro quo, reading 
was totally out of the question. In this emergency it 
occurred to Bill Nutt, the young man whom I mentioned as 

3* 



58 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. _ 

having been told off as my comrade in a former chapter, to 
offer a sort of succedancum a written journal of the transac- 
tions oil board. Accordingly on the morning of Sept. 20th 
a placard containing the following announcement might have 
been seen pasted up on a conspicuous part of the hatchway 
of the good ship Albatross. 

'Albatross, 20th Sept. 1845. 

" THE JOURNAL OF THE ALBATROSS. 

" To-morrow morning will appear the first number of a 
journal bearing the above title, to be published daily (wea- 
ther permitting), at our office near the cook's galley, on 
board of the Albatross. This journal will consist of at 
l^st eight quarto pages in legible handwriting : it will con- 
tain, besides ' The News of the Day,' ' Critical Notices,' 
' Letters of Correspondents,' and ' Advertisements,' a general 
summary of all the stirring and striking events, daily, hourly, 
and minutely acted and transacted, before the eyes, and as 
it were under the noses, of this strange conglomeration of 
unfortunate humanity now on board. Amalgamated, mixed 
up, and bound up, as it were in our fortunes, by the inextri- 
cable and inexplicable decrees of the three sisters, and the 
immutable and inscrutable workings of destiny, who in forg- 
ing the chain of circumstances that at present surround us, 
has obviously decided that, sink or swim, we should sail down 
the stream of time in this wooden prison for a certain period 
in company ; it becomes us to make the term of confinement 
seem as short as possible. With a view to this result, seve- 
ral of the motley individuals forming part of the worshipful 
society here assembled, have come to the resolution of pub- 
lishing this daily record of remarkable events and occur 



A MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL. 59 

rences ; for v^iiicli contributions are respectfully solicited 
from all lovers of light literature. In the confident expecta- 
tion of receiving the cordial support of the community, we 
have only to announce that contributions will be received at 
our office near the cook's galley, where terms of subscription 
and full particulars may be learned." 

Next morning accordingly, and with one or two exceptions 
in squally weather, every successive morning that we re- 
mained on board, there regularly appeared a sheet of mis- 
cellaneous matter, written in a plain legible hand ; it was 
attached by a string to the cook's galley, and extensively 
read by sailors and soldiers, exciting considerable merriment 
and good-himioured criticism. Several of these fugitive 
pieces, written by Nutt, I preserved until lately, and as 
a specimen of his humour, and a sample of the Journal, I 
insert one or two of them. 



" SOMETHING IN THE WIND. 

" Last evening before going to press, we could see with 
half a glance of our weather eye that there was something 
serious in the wind, something exceedingly ominous looking, 
in short, something more than merely dirty weather. The 
term dirty weather, by the bye, we may as well remark for 
the information of several and upwards of our readers not 
perhaps aware of the fact, being a vague definite term, gene- 
rally used by spoony individuals in the vain efibrts thej 
make to stimulate indifference, and conceal their apprehen- 
sion of a severe blow. Instantaneously stopping the press, 
we immediately hurried upon deck, and found that, as usual, 
we were tolerably coi:rect in our surmise. In fact, there were 



60 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

several palpable and distinct indications of a stiffener to 
wind'ard, sufficiently alarming to the owners of weak or 
delicate nerves ; who, if they cannot resolve upon leaving 
such articles ashore, are most decidedly in the wrong box 
with them aboard. On going for'ard to where the second 
mate — one of those hardy weather-beaten sons of Neptune 
with whom we are on tolerably familiar terms — was stand- 
ing gazing at the rigging, we asked his private opinion of 
things in general, and the present rather critical aspect of 
aftairs in particular. He replied in his gruff ' deep-toned 
voice,' that we are sure 'did not falter,' that we were 'a 
going to catch particular d — n — n, and no mistake.' In the 
meantime, the gallant crew of the Albatross behaved with 
the cool decision one naturally expects to characterise a 
crew, composed principally of freeborn and full-blooded 
Yankee sailors. We distinctly observed one gallant fellow 
while holding on by a bowHne waiting for orders, delibe- 
rately put his hand into his breeches pocket. This reminds 
us that we have heard sneering sceptics deny the existence 
of pockets in sailors' smallclothes, a malignant slander, 
which we here refute in the most emphatic manner, as tho 
egregiously contemptible fabrication of ignorant and pre- 
sumptuous blockheads. This gallant son of Neptune, we 
reiterate, putting his hand into his breeches pocket, drew 
from thence a plug of Virginia tobacco, and eyeing it with a 
look of affection, as if calculating the probability of its 
being the last time it should ever express its fragrant juice, 
he heaved a sigh, took a vigorous bite, returned the plug to 
his pocket, and stood calmly awaiting the order of his supe- 
rior. In the meantime, the ' blustering railer, rude Boreas,' 
seeing our state of preparation, and that we were not to be 
easily hove aback, or finished with a blow, sneaked off to 
le'ward ; where, should he catch an unfortunate skimmer of 



A MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL. 61 

the seas napping while in his present humour, with Mit walk- 
ing into several of his sails and spars, you may have our 
hat. In the meantime, we may look out for squalls, the 
usual phenomena of these latitudes, but in the words of 
the song — 

*' ' With a etout vessel and crew, 

We'll say let the storm come down.' " 



LOST. 



" A good sound apitite as bin lost sum wares on board of 
the Halbert Ross by a wery nice sort of yung man, who 
remanes in a most diskonselat stat ever sense the misfortun 
okurd, not bein abel to konsum mor nor a trifel of fore or 
five pounds of bisket and pork in a day sense the axident. 
Who ever as found the same on deliverin it at the ofiice of 
the jurnal, will be ansumly rewarded. N.B. The yung 
man as lost his'n, as found an osses, wich will be glad to 
part with reznabel." 

" FREE CONCERTS. 

" On our way home last evening, we called at the free con- 
cert held in the forecastle, which, we were glad to perceive, 
was very well attended. We were highly amused with the 
singing of several of the distinguished vocalists who favoured 
the company with their sweet voices, and which, as the 
' Bard of Avon' somewhere remarks on a similar occasion, 
' To hear by the noise, it sounds like dulcet in contagion.* 
In fact, the singing, while it might have been worse, one 
could scarcely, under the circumstances, expect it to be 



62 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

much better. As a slight qualification, howe\er, to what 
may appear our too partial encomiums, we would beg, with 
all due deference to the superior judgment of the gentlemen 
having the direction of the proceedings at these social enter- 
tainments, to offer a suggestion. It is simply this, that every 
gent, on rising to sing, ought to state to the company whe- 
ther the song with which he intends to favour them is of the 
comic or sentimental class. At a first glance, we have no 
doubt our honest suggestion will appear to the fastidiously 
critical, or the critically fastidious, to be in\ddious or uncalled 
for ; we are prepared for this ; but it is with a just pride that 
we announce to our readers, that we have never yet swerved 
to the right or to the left, or shrunk from the performance 
of a stern or necessary duty by the fear of criticism or con- 
sequence. With, this animating reflection actuating us, we 
candidly put the following question : — If sentimental gents 
will sing sentimental songs, out of all tune, and with a comic 
voice, accent, and manner, and if comic songs are treated 
vice versa, how is an unsophisticated person able to compre- 
hend this inverted system of ' untwisting all the links that 
tie the hidden soul of harmony V I assure my readers I 
went last night to hear the singing, with a desire to be 
pleased, if ever mortal critic had that desire (which may be 
questioned). What was the result ? Disgust, disgust of the 
most unqualified, unmitigated, and contemptuous character. 
One of the gents in the sentimental line tried ' Alice Grey' 
and ' Oft in the Stilly Night,' and the audience were con- 
vulsed with laughter, while a comic gent tipped them ' Nix 
my Dolly' in such a doleful and lugubrious style as to cause 
the company to wear the air of a funeral-party. I need say 
no more. I trust, in future, that each gent, who rises to 
sing at these free concerts will signify in a plain, straightfor- 
ward, off'-hand, and up and down manner, whether his song 



GAMBLING ON SHIP-BOARD. 63 

Is sentimental or comic, in whicli case they may safely cal- 
culate on the favour and slightly qualified applause of 

" Daniel Damper." 

Among the methods adopted to pass time on board, card- 
playing was the most popular and engrossing. Non-com- 
missioned oflScers and privates, seated in groups on the fore- 
castle in fine weather, and between decks when it rained, 
played at the game of poker from morning till night. Poker 
is the national game of cards in America. It is played by 
gamblers of all classes, to the exclusion of almost all other 
modes of gambling, and being a peculiarly exciting game, 
it exerts an inconceivably fascinating influence over its 
votaries. During our present voyage, I have frequently seen 
a private soldier rise from a single sitting the winner of forty 
or fifty dollars ; and in a few hours, having again sat down 
to play, he would probably have lost it all, and as much 
more as he could borrow, without seeming either much ele- 
vated or depressed by the smiles or frowns of the fickle god- 
dess. It may surprise some how soldiers could be in posses- 
sion of such large sums of money. It liappened simply 
thus : — Two of the companies had been paid a short time 
previous to their embarkation, the men had thus no opportu- 
nity of getting rid of their sujDCrabundant capital ; an opera- 
tion which, when ashore, they usually perform with astonish- 
ing facility. A private's pay in the Infantry is seven dollars 
a month, and he is paid every two months ; one dollar 
a month is retained until the expiration of his service. Thus 
at pay-day the private receives twelve dollars ; the sergeant 
twenty-six ; the corporal eighteen ; the musicians sixteen ; no 
pay being retained from any of these ranks except the pri- 
vate. Most of the soldiers are more or less addicted to gam- 
bling, and thus large sums of money are frequently in the 



64 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

hands of the practised gamblers about pay-time, sometimes 
amounting to hundreds of dollars in possession of five or six 
of the most skilful. Gambling is strictly prohibited by the 
rules of the service, but the difficulty of enforcing the rule, 
owing partly to laxity of discipline, and partly to the exceed- 
ingly badly-arranged system of paying the soldiers two 
months' pay at a time, in place of daily or weekly, renders 
the prohibition a dead letter. 

We had an excellent regimental band on board, and 
in fine weather our ofiicers had it up on deck to play for an 
hour or two in the evening. This practice had a markedly 
enlivening effect upon the spirits, and must have helped 
materially to promote health, as it evidently exerted a bene- 
ficial influence in promoting a cheerful hilarity and good- 
humour among the men. It was interesting to observe the 
sudden change from blank and listless apathy to brisk and 
animated cheerfulness which some well-known and favourite 
air produced in the countenances of all ; the strains of 
" Auld lang syne" calling forth the latent smile on cheeks 
and lips, and kindling the languid eye of the most melan- 
choly and morose. My friend Nutt, when remarking on this 
effect one morning, said he could almost believe in the 
authenticity of the miracles ascribed to the music of 
Amphion and Orpheus, as he had himself witnessed a most 
astounding transformation effected in the person of the boat- 
swain of the ship, whose "savage breast" had been so 
thoroughly soothed by music's magic spell, that he had 
observed him once, while under its powerful influence, talk- 
ing in the tones, manner, and accent of a civilized being. 

I mentioned that Nutt had been on board a British man- 
of-war during a three years' cruise. One day, when seated 
in a quiet corner of the deck, I reminded him of a promise 
he had ^ormerly made to give me a sketch of the events of 



A YARN IN PROSPECT. 65 

liis earlier years, whicli had resulted in a young man of good 
abilities, and brought up to a good trade, being seduced into 
such rambling and unsatisfactory modes of life as that of a 
sailor or a soldier. After a preliminary " well here goes for 
a yarn," he commenced the following narrative. As it pro- 
fesses to be a true chapter in the early life of my comrade, I 
will give it as nearly as I can recollect in his own manner, 
devoting a chapter specially to the purpose. 



ciiAi'ii';!:, VI. 

A M<)(l(ini MoMiff ol' l''<»il,iiii<5. 

I HiiiM'OHifl you Iviiuw lli;i,L 1 Jiiii H ( '<)<',kii<',y. f wuh born arul 
br(»lit^hl. m* wllliin (Jim hoiiikI of (Jiohc r;iiii<)ii:i Ix'JIs of liovv, 

wIlOHt* Voice,, SJ>.';i kill <.^' llnoilf.'ll llir, IchvikI;! of cliiMlioorl^ llUH 

\v;iiiif<| rii.'iiiy .'.n iiicipiciil, iii;iy<»r .•iii<l ;il<l<rni;iii to (iiiii 
/»H';iiii, when I a'l" iiH-liiird lo ^S-iil," (lie |>;i(rrii;il in;iii;',ioii, 
i\\u\ (,1m j»i<'«/p(,(„s of (Jw'ir j^ii;ir< linns' inlluence ; and vvlio, 
lullowinn- (lie ;i,(lMi*»nitioii of (,Imi }iir<!<',(,i()n;i(,e, iiionI(,<)rH, li}j,vo 
risen (,<> (Miiiiliiie llio vvenllli Ji(, le;iM(,, if tu>i. the, Came, or (,lie 
vii(n<'M, of (Imi renowntd VVIiill in/doii, ol' '•Mlirie.<! l^ord Mjiyor 
of London" relel»ii(y. ) re.'iJIy cjin'l, re<'oll<-e,(, wliellx-r (,li(!SO 
bells wMrne^l nie or nol, on (lie morning when 1 resolviid uj>on 
leiivinn- "(he, old bonso at lioni<'," ;ind looking ouV a li(,(,lo 
in(() (he \v<»ii<l. < V,r(-ainly, if (hey <lid, I p.-iid very blXlo 
ji((,eii(ioii (o (hem, beiii/'- wholly (;il<eri n|) widi my obj(;<;t of 
^«t,(,in^ oil" nmi(.(,ieed by ;iiiy of my a(',(jnaiiil,JuiC(;H, who 
mi/^iil,, when (hey lioard I w;is ^one, l>c ]ilc<ily io indi(;at<; (ho 
ron(e 1 h}i<l (aken, in which chho I was afraid my fa(,h<'r 
would Ibllow :iiid brin<^ me back. 

My ladier, who w;is a carver and ^ihbir in cxtonHivo l)usi- 
luw, luid br()ue|i(, me ni) (o (he s;ini(i (rade, which I li;i,d 
l('arn(Hl \vi(h f;i(ili(y and }i|)(i(nde, juid for a y(!ar or two j)r(;- 
viouH to my lenviiiM- him, (hoiie-h (hen (,idy s<!V(Hit<ien y(!;u'H 
of afjfo, I had been oC oivat tise (o him, as I did as much 
work, an<l of as e<M>d <ni;ili(y, ;is many «»f (he journeymen (,o 
whom lie, was f^iviuM- cmployincuL My mollier diod when I 



A^' rSHAPPY HOME. 67 

was a child in the arms of a nurse, and before I was old 
enough to recollect the event, mj father had marrie<l again. 
My stepmother was a very good sort of woman as stepmo- 
thers go, and I had no fault to find with her treatment of 
me ; perhaps she liked her own children, of whom she had 
three by- my father, better than my sister and myself, and it 
is probable that home might have been happier if my own 
mother had lived. Still our stepmother never showed any 
marked preference for her own children, nor ever treated my 
sister or me harshly or unjustly ; and could not be blamed if 
she did not possess all that warmth of afiection which a 
mother can have only for her own. My father unfortunately 
had a quick and violent temper, which was a good deal 
aggravated by a habit of tippling into which he had fallen ; 
and frequently for trifling causes of offence, when he hap- 
pened to be in one of his ill-temp'ered moods, he beat me so 
severely that at last I became apprehensive he would one day 
do me a serious injury. It was after receiving one of these 
drubbings that I resolved upon leaving home. I was then 
about seventeen years of age, and wanted four years of being 
out of my apprenticeship ; my father having bound me by 
indenture to serve him for seven years ; but, as I said before, 
I could work at the business as well as a good many of the 
journeymen. Here, in America (and this is one thing in 
which I must give Jonathan the credit of having gone rather 
ahead of the old countries), it matters not whether a man 
serves an apprenticeship, or how he acquires the skill or pro- 
ficiency to work at his trade or calling. " Is he able to do 
his work ?" is the only question asked, and ability is the only 
test required. But in England the case is widely different, 
as I had soon reason to deplore. I was leaving home with 
the intention of working at my trade in some country town 
out of the knowledge, and beyond the reach, of my farther- 



68 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

I had only about fifty shillings when I left home, twenty of 
which I got from my sister, whom I made my coiifidant, and 
who did all she could to alter my determination, but seeing 
that I was firmly resolved upon going, she gave me a sove- 
reign, making me promise to write to her, a promise which I 
never fulfilled. 

I had no fixed intention of going to any place in particu- 
lar when I left our house ; but in passing a coach-oflSce 
where a coachful of passengers was on the point of starting 
for Portsmouth, and on inquiry, learning there was room for 
one on the outside, I took a seat, and was soon rapidly whirl- 
ing along the road. We soon left the dome of St. Paul's an 
indistinct, dim, and visionary outline, and away we burst 
with a glorious canter into the fresh air of the open country, 
where even the cloud of the foggy Babylon itself was soon 
left far behind. There was a young sailor on the top of the 
coach, going to Portsmouth to join his vessel, having been up 
in London on a visit to his friends. He and I were soon 
engaged in conversation, when he gave me a long account of 
his cruise in the Mediterranean, and the adventures of his 
last three years on board a man-of-war. He described the 
life of a sailor in glowing terms, and wondered how any per- 
son could prefer a dull life on shore, who had the choice of 
the merry and easy life led on board one of Her Majesty's 
ships. Though I was much amused with his conversation, I 
did not feel in the least inclined to wish myself one of the 
jolly crews he talked of. More especially as he spoke of 
some of the ofiicers he had served under as regular Tartars, 
one of whose eccentricities consisted in making a few of the 
men kiss the gunner's daughter of a morning before break- 
fast. This kissing the gunner's daughter, which rather puz- 
zled me at first, I found on inquiry was an amusing practice 
they had of tying a sailor up to the breejh of a gun, and 



A RUNAWAY APrilENTICE. 69 

inflicting two dozen laslies on liis bare back witb a cat o'nine 
tails, by the hands of the boatswain. 

We arrived in Portsmouth early in the evening, and I 
accompanied the young sailor to a tavern, where we had 
supper together, and engaged lodgings for the night. We 
afterwards went to the theatre, and passed the night away 
pleasantly together. I told him I had left home, and was 
strongly persuaded by him to enter the vessel in which he 
was going ; it would take me, he said, on the ratings as a boy 
for a three years' cruise, during which I might learn to be a 
good sailor ; the vessel was for the West India station and 
would sail in a few days. But I steadily resisted all his argu- 
ments, thinking I had only to look for employment to find 
plenty of it, and not having the slightest desire for a sea life, 
which I had always pictured to myself as one of great hard- 
ship and ill-usage. Next morning after breakfast, I went 
down to the Point with him, and saw him take a boat to go 
on board of his vessel, which lay at Spithead. 

I wandered about Portsmouth for the remainder of that 
and several succeeding days, looking for employment at my 
trade ; but though I found several shops where the masters 
would have been willing to employ me if I had been able to 
show that I liad served an apprenticeship, I soon found that 
without that, I had no chance. It was in vain that I offered 
to work for half wages, it was quite against the rules of the 
trade, and though tall and stout of my age, any person might 
see I was too young to have served an apprenticeship ; in fact 
I believe most of them guessed the true state of the case, that 
I was only a runaway boy. This was a serious disappoint- 
ment to my hopes ; however, partly through pride, and 
partly through a dread of the punishment I Avould receive in 
all probability from my father if I returned, I determined to 
8tay away until reduced to the last extremity. In the mean- 



70 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO - 

time I resolved to try the country towns, thinking it possible 
that by jobbing, and showing my ability to work, together 
with offering to work for low wages, I might eventually, per 
haps, succeed in finding permanent employment. Flattering 
myself with this idea, I started for the country. I travelled 
throuM-h several counties on foot, sometimes getting a few 
days' work in one town, and then compelled to set off to ano- 
ther to look for fresh employment. During this period I 
often dined off beans, or turnips, in the fields, and very glad 
I was to get them too ; and I have several times been glad 
to find a bed in some convenient hayrick. At length one 
evening I was standing at a toll bridge, fairly beaten up ; 
starved with hunger, tired, and footsore. To make matters 
worse, the churlish tollman, cursing my impudence in at- 
temptiug to set up a plea of poverty to induce him to let me 
pass free, threatened to set his dog on me if I did not take 
myself off the same way I came. " Friend, thou art sparing 
in good deeds, and liberal in thy use of bad words, I fear," 
said a mild voice a short distance behind me, and turning 
round I saw a good-natured looking gentleman, in the broad 
brimmed hat and plain coat of the Quaker. The tollman 
became very suddenly red in the face at this address, not 
having observed the approach of the old gentleman, who 
probably had some control over him in his situation, as I saw 
him talking to him for some time in a tone of rebuke. On 
going away he motioned me to follow, which I was not slow 
to do, you may be sure, especially as upon glancing at the 
tollman I saw he did not consider himself much oblio-ed to 
me for the lecture he had just received from the Quaker. 

The old gentleman, who though stout and healthy looking, 
and of a cheerful and ruddy complexion, was, I should think, 
close upon sixty years of age, waited until I came up to him, 
when he began to ask a few questions relating to my pre- 



THE BENEVOLENT QUAKER. 71 

sent condition, and how I came to be travelling in that 
destitute manner. I told him I had been travelling and 
looking for employment as a carver and gilder, mentioning 
some of the towns at which I had found a job, but that not 
being able to find permanent employment in the country, I 
was making my way back to Portsmouth. But he was not 
satisfied with this statement apparently, which I imagined 
he suspected left the main point untold, and continued to 
question me, until I became fairly puzzled, and involved in 
several contradictions. You will think it strange that a big 
lad of seventeen should begin to cry at an old fellow asking 
him a few simple questions, but such was the case though. 
It is now six years ago, and I recollect it as if it were yester- 
day ; it is strange how easily the head pumps are set a-going 
sometimes. The kind and benevolent tones of the old 
gentleman as he questioned me, mingled with a feeling of 
shame at the incoherence of my replies, fairly overcame me ; 
at the same time I was weak, and probably hysterical, from 
a long abstinence from food, and so sitting down by the 
roadside I hid my face in my hands, and blubbered like a 
big schoolboy after a whipping. 

On recovering, I found the old gentleman was still along- 
side, evidently resolved to keep me in tow. "Come, my 
lad," said he, when I had got up on my feet, " thou art tired 
and footsore, my house is not far off, come along with me 
and thou mayest have thy feet washed, a supper, and a bed, 
and if thee doesn't like to tell thy story I shall not ask thee." 
Rousing myself up, and feeling ashamed at the false state- 
ments in which I had been detected, and which had led to 
the singular childish symptoms I had exhibited, while travel- 
ling along the road, I gave him a true and succinct relation 
of my circumstances, and my reason for quitting home. 
When I had concluded, he said he thought he could giva 



V2 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

me some empioyment that would occupy me a few days, 
and during that time my feet would recover, and he would 
think of some advice that might be useful to me. 

We soon arrived at the old gentleman's housv., a genteel 
cottage a little off the highway, with a fine ornamented 
lawn in front, and a spacious garden in rear. His wife, a 
fine, cheerful, quiet looking old lady, came to the gate to 
meet him. He told her in a few words the circumstance 
under which he had found me, and it was speedily evident 
by her actions, that she rejoiced at the opportunity of exer- 
cising her benevolence. An abundant supply of warm 
water, with soap and towel, were speedily at my disposal, 
and having washed my feet, I was furnished with clean 
stockings and slip]>ers. I then partook of an excellent 
supper, to which I did ample justice, and soon afterwards was 
shown to a good bed. I was treated with unvarying kind- 
ness while I remained with these excellent people, a period of 
eight days, during which I cleaned, and freshly gilded, the 
frames of a number of pictures belonging to tliem. I 
received much excellent advice from them both, and the old 
gentleman, to whom I had faithfully promised to proceed 
liome, gave me a letter addressed to my father, and two sove- 
reigns, on the morning I left. I had not earned more than 
half the sum, but I knew he calculated on paying my coach 
fare to London in this manner, and I would have pained him 
by refusing it. Having bid my kind and benevolent friends a 
sincere f^irewell, I travelled to the next town, which was 
only a few miles off, and there took the stage coach to 
Portsmouth. But though I had promised to go home, when 
staying with the worthy Quakers, and intended it also ^ 
believe, now when away from their influence, the ola 
motives of pride and fear were in full operation again ; and 



AN ORATION, 73 

before I arrived at Portsmouth, I had resolved to enter a 
man-of-war. 

Accordingly, to make a long story short, I entered as a 
bov on board the frig-ate Blazer, at that time fittinjr out for a 
three years' cruise on the coast of Africa, I cannot say that 
I expected to lead a very easy or pleasant life when I enter- 
ed Her Majesty's service ; it need not surprise you therefore 
to learn, that for some time after I joined, having suffered a 
good deal from sea-sickness, as we encountered several stiff 
gales before leaving Spithead, I felt my bitterest anticipations 
of the discomfort of a sea life fully realized. 

We lay for a fortnight at Spithead, during which time we 
were occupied chiefly in getting in stores and provisions. A 
few days before sailing, our captain came on board, and 
having mustei*ed the men, he read the commission appoint- 
ing him to the command of the frigate. When he had done 
reading, a few of the men were commencing to cheer. 

" Hold your d d jaw," he shouted in the voice of a 

Stentor. " Now men, mind what I say to you, I will have 
no cheering in this ship without my orders. If you should 
have the luck to board an enemy's vessel, you may cheer 
like devils the moment you set foot on her decks, but not a 
moment before. When you are paid off and ashore, too, 
after our cruise is over, I have no objection to your cheering 
as much as you think proper ; but while on board this ship, 
mind I wish you to recollect it — no cheering if you please, 
except at an order from me. As you are all here I will take 
the liberty of making a few remarks which may save some 
misunderstanding in future. We sail in a few days for the 
coast of Africa, I have taken the command, and as all reports 
will henceforth be forwarded to me, I hope that all irregula- 
rities of conduct will immediately cease. I am exceedingly 

4 ' 



74 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

averse to corporal punisliment, but, however painful to my 
feelings, there are some crimes for which I feel that 1 shall 
be compelled to award it if distinctly proved ; these are 
drunkenness, disrespect to officers, and disobedience of orders. 
I will be happy to render you every indulgence in my power 
while you are under my command, and shall use every means 
to make you as comfortable as possible ; which I trust you on 
your part will do your endeavour to merit. Now, my lads, 
you may go." 

Such was the address of our captain, who did not seem to 
be known to many of the crew except by hearsay, which 
gave him the name of a " bit of a sharper," or, in other 
words, a strict disciplinarian. The short speech he had just 
delivered, which was freely commented upon, I could plainly 
see had lowered him a few pegs in the estimation of the 

men, and especially among the old tars. " O, d all 

such canting humbug about painful to his feelings, and 
* compelled to award it.' Why the deuce didn't he tell the 
brats of middies, when they wanted a man flogged, just to 
report him sulky, or worse for liquor, and he would order 
him two dozen," grumbled an old veteran, as a few of them 
sat discussing the subject on the evening watch. " For my 
part," he continued, " I never knew one of your very feeling 
gentlemen but what was devilish good at making a poor 
fellow's back feel." " The very blessed same remark I made 
to Sammy here as we came aft," responded another old tar. 
" What'b the use of trying to come to windward of an old 
sailor in thai way ; why don't he out with it in plain English, 
somewheres in thl^^ fashion : — My lads, I have always been 
in the habit of seeing plenty of flogging, which I think a 
good custom, and means to keep it up." 

I must confess that I thought these old tars a complete 
8et of croakers, not being able to perceive anything in the 



FLOGGING AT SEA. 75 

Speech to call for such illiberal construction, and severe 
animadversion. In fact, for my own part, I had considered 
the speech most admirable, both in matter and manner. But 
a few months on board fully verified the correctness of their 
prognostication, which I found had been the sound deduction 
of observation and experience. The fact of the case is, that 
if a captain is an enemy to flogging he strikes it altogether 
from his catalogue of punishments ; and therefore never 
makes allusion to it when addressing his men, any more than 
if he was not aware of its existence. There are a number of 
captains in the British service, who have abolished flogging 
within their own jurisdiction, as eflectually to all intents and 
p>urposes, as if it had been done by act of parliament. And 
this also, very much to the improvement of the discij^line of 
their respective crews ; and thus practically giving the lie to 
those who insist upon the necessity for the continuation of 
this degrading punishment. But our captain w^as none of 
these, and the cat was by far too often in the boatswain's 
hands. A person who has never been at sea in a man-of- 
war, with a captain who has got the idea that flogging is 
necessary for the maintenance of discipline, would not believe 
the extent to which this punishment is administered in some 
vessels. I believe that during the first six months that I was 
aboard, nearly one half of our ship's crew had received a 
flogging. The merest trifle, a pair of trousers not perfectly 
clean, or having a grease spot on them at a Sunday's muster, 
or an article accidentally left out of the clothes bag, when 
the vessel was inspected by the oflScers of the watch, was 
quite sufficient to qualify a man of even good character to 
receive this disgraceful punishment. The boys were not 
stripped and flogged with the cats, except in extraordinary 
cases, but when found fault with by an officer, the boatswain 
was instructed to give them a taste of discipline. This (!on- 



70 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

Bisted in a piece of three quarter iiicli rope with a knot at 
the end, called a colt, which the boatswain carries in his 
pocket, being smartly applied to the back and shoulders in a 
series of successive jerks ; an exhibition highly amusing to 
the spectator, but producing the most startling effect upon 
the recipients, whom it causes to throw themselves into the 
strangest contortions and grotesque antics imaginable. I 
sometimes had a taste of this discipline, and must say that I 
did not find it much calculated to increase my liking for the 
sea ser\ace. 

Theie was a bag kept by the boatswain on board the 
Blazer, which was called " the boatswain's save all," by the 
sailors. In it were carefully stowed by the boatswain, all 
the clothes found between decks which were left out of their 
o^Vners' clothes-bags, when the decks were inspected by the 
officers of the watch. Once a week, at a stated hour, the 
clothes were turned out of the bag, the officer of the watch 
standing by to see who claimed them, as the party so claim- 
ing was marked down for a dozen lashes for each article ; 
which he received at the regular punishment hour next 
morning. Very few of these articles were claimed of 
course, most of the men preferring to lose the article, even 
though compelled to go to the purser and draw a new one, 
being in this case a virtual fine equivalent to the value of 
the article, wdiich was charged against their wages in the 
purser's books. But we had several old salts aboard who 
never paid the purser for an article of clothing while on the 
cruise. One of these, when he saw an article of clothing 
produced from the bag, which he considered worth taking a 
dozen for, deliberately walked up, and picking up the article 
— shirt, trousers, or whatever it might be, he would begin to 

apostrophise it as that d d unlucky shirt, or jacket, that 

vjis always getting him into a scrape. The officer of th<? 



A SHORT EPISODE. YV 

■watch who would know tlie old follow to 1)0 a reo-ular 

o 

customer on these occasions, smiling at the ruse, would 
mark him down for his dozen ; and careless of the iests of 
his comrades, the old tar marched off with his trophy. The 
unclaimed goods were thrown overboard. 

There was a young boy of the name of Billings, who died 
on board the Blazer when we had been about eight months 
out, and who all hands agreed in thinking fell a victim to a 
flogging which he received on board. He was no great 
favourite in the ship, yet on account of his youth everybody 
seemed to pity him ; for strange to say, old fellows who are 
careless of a flogging in their own persons, often show sym- 
pathy for others whose spirits they see broken down under 
the agony of shame caused by the degradation of the 
punishment. Billings was a remarkably clever and hand- 
some boy, about sixteen or seventeen years of age, rather 
delicate in his appearance, and exceedingly proud-spirited 
and fiery in his temper. It was supposed that he had run 
away from home, and that his people were in better circum- 
stances than common ; but he was very reserved in his 
communications, and never made a confidant of any person 
until near his death ; when he told the doctor, who had 
been very kind to him, something which he wished him 
to write to his mother who lived at Bristol. The doctor 
tried to persuade him that he would live to go home and see 
her himself, but nothing would content hira, until the doctor 
had taken down what he wished him to write, together with 
his mother's address, in a memorandum book. Shortly 
after, the captain came down with the doctor to see the boy. 
The captain spoke very kindly to him and asked him if 
he would^like some wine. A tear rolled over the wasted 
cheek of poor Billings, as he whispered something into the 
ear of the captain, who seeing his lips move, stooped to 



78 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

hear liim. I was attending on him that morning, as we 
took it in turns, but although standing pretty near, I could 
not hear a word of what he said to the captain. Whatever 
it was, it seemed to affect him a good deal. He told Bil- 
lings to keep up his spirits, that he would send him some 
wine, and if there was anything on board that he would like 
to eat, if the doctor permitted, he would order the steward 
to bring it to him. After that, wine, and everything that 
was supposed to be good for him, was sent from the captain's 
table ; but it was all of no use, the poor fellow died a few 
days afterwards. He had been flogged about a month pre- 
viously, for calling a midshipman who was beating him with 
a rope's end, a bastard ; since which time he had done no 
duty, and constantly complained of a pain in his chest. Some 
of the old sailors said they had seen cases of the same sort 
before, that it frequently happened to boys through flogging, 
ami that the boy Billings died heart-broken. A few days' 
con^nement on bread and water would have been a far bet- 
ter punishment for this boy's offence, while the midshipman 
who had caused this breach of discipline, by striking him, 
(contrary to all good discipline, and the regulations of the 
service,) might have been put under arrest for some time to 
show the captain's displeasure at his conduct. Whether the 
death of this boy caused the alteration or not I cannot say, 
but certainly the punishment of flogging was not of such fre- 
quent occurrence for some time subsequently. 

It is a strange fact that a considerable portion of the 
sailors, and more especially that portion who oftenest suffer 
the infliction, believe that the service would be ruined if the 
custom of flogging were abolished in the navy. But even 
among the most bigoted tars of the old school, this opinion 
is fast wearing out, and the time must soon come wdien the 
<iat will be consigned to the locker of Davy Jones, in place 



A CRUISE IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 79 

of that of tlie boatswain ; and only be recollected as one of 
the instruments of torture used in the barbarous ages. 

After cruising two weary years on the most monotonous 
and unhealthy station that ever a man-of-war had the ill-luck 
to be sent to, during which we lost a number of our best 
hands from fever, and made prize of two slave vessels, we 
received orders to proceed to the Pacific. This was good 
news to all, especially to those poor fellows who were sick 
when the order arrived, and who soon felt the benefit of a 
change of scene and climate. For my own part I was de- 
lighted with the appearance of those enchanting islands 
c;f which I had often read when a young boy with so much 
relish, and Tahiti and a number of others, seemed like scenes 
which I recollected having visited in dreams. We some- 
times spent eight or ten days in the harbour of one of them 
while we refitted, and took in fresh water, fruits, vegetables, 
and other supplies, and during these periods, parties of us 
were permitted to go ashore. I had now learned my duty 
as a sailor pretty well, and consequently felt a little more 
reconciled to my situation than when I first entered the 
Blazer. Indeed, were it not for the perpetual dread of the 
petty tyranny, which his officer may exert over him at any 
time, for faults real or imaginary, and of which no sailor 
serving in a vessel where flogging is customary, can ever 
wholly divest himself, a sailor on board a man-of-war would 
not have a bad time. For my own part I had begun to form 
such a liking for the service, while cruising in these delicious 
latitudes, that, but for the slight drawback just mentioned, I 
believe I would have entered at the expiration of my time, 
for another three years' cruise in one of Her Majesty's ships, 
in which case you w^ould have been spared this long yarn. 

During our cruise here, we sometimes overhauled a 
whaler, and on several of these occasions, a sailor or two, on 



150 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

the plea of ill-usage, vclunteered to enter our vessel. T|ies€ 
we always accepted when sufficient cause of complaint could 
be shown, the captains of many of those whalers being most 
tyrannical scoundrels, and using their men in a most brutal 
and cruel manner in many instances. When such is the 
case, the means of redress in the hands of the sailor are 
as follows : Whenever a man-of-war approaches near enough 
to render the signal distinct, a red or blue shirt is fastened 
to some conspicuous part of the rigging of the whaler, 
where it cannot remain a dozen seconds until it is observed 
by some one on board of the man-of-war, and is reported to 
the officer of the watch. The result of the manoeuvre is, 
that in a very short space of time, an officer from the man- 
of-war, having been on board of the whaler making inquiry 
into the state of affairs there, returns with captain, com- 
plainants, and witnesses, who are speedily standing on the 
quarter-deck of Her Majesty'^s ship. The captain of tlie 
man-of-war, having listened to the complaint, the defence, 
and the witnesses pro and cow, gives a prompt decision on 
the case, from which there is no appeal. Tlie complaints 
usually consist of having been brutally beaten by the captain 
or mate, of insufficiency of food, or food of bad quality. 
They are seldom made without good foundation, and are 
mostly easily substantiated, as witnesses against the captain 
may volunteer into the man-of-war, as well as the complain- 
ant. The proof of ill-usage by striking is frequently easy, 
by the men showing the marks of wounds and recent bruises 
on their bodies. When bad food is complained of, the pro- 
visions they have on board are examined, and when insuffi- 
ciency is the cause of complaint, the physical condition of the 
crew often affords confirmation or disproval of it. Summary, 
and promptly carried into execution, are the decisions of \]\<t--e 
floating courts of justice, being generally somewhat to the 



SUMMARY JUSTICE. 81 

following effect : " Captain, pay tliese men up to the present 
time, and send them aboard with their chests in less than 
half an hoiir." It is no use for the captain to say that he 
has not got money to pay them ; if money cannot be found, 
goods will be seized to the amount required ; a few barrels 
of oil, for instance, have frequently been taken, and sold, 
when convenient, to pay the seamen's wages. 

I recollect seeing one of these cases decided in a manner 
that gave great satisfaction to the beholders. A poor, half- 
starved looking object, reminding one of Smallbones, in Mar- 
ryatt's novel of Snarleyow, brought a complaint against his 
captain for beating him, and, as the boy said, making him 
afraid of his life, besides keeping him on short allowance of 
bad food. His statement was fully borne out by the evi- 
dence of several of the crew, besides the marks of bruises and 
ulcers on various parts of his body. The captain, a big, ill- 
looking scoundrel, " whose looks would have been enough to 
hang him with any honest jury," as an old tar remarked, 
seemed quite careless of refuting the evidence, which exhi- 
bited a case of monstrous injustice and cruelty. Our cap- 
tain, having heard the case, ordered the captain of the 
whaler to go aboard with Smallbones, and see that he found 
all his property, and afterwards bring him on board of the 
Blazer and pay him his wages in his presence. The captain 
and Smallbones having come aboard, and the latter having 
received the wages due to him, the captain of the whaler, 
thinking the case over, was for proceeding immediately to 
f his own vessel, when he was told by our captain to stop a 

few minutes, as he was not quite done with him yet. In the 
meantime our boatswain had been dispatched for the cats, 
and having returned in a few minutes with a bagful of thes^ 
implements, amidst the grins and ill-concealed glee of +he 
crew of the Blazer, who thought it a capital joke to see a 



62 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

skipper get his back pickled, the captain of the whaler was 
ordered to strip. He appeared to hesitate at first for a 
minute or so, probably thinking it might be a mistake or a 
joke, but on our captain calling out to him, to strip and be 

d d, or it would be worse for him, he saw resistance or 

delay would be useless, and began very deliberately to take 
off his coat and shirt. He was then tied up to a gun, and 
received three dozen on the bare back, which the boatswain 
seemed to give con amore^ having selected the thieves' cat 
for the purpose, a heavier sort than those in common use. 
On his going over the ship's side to go to his own vessel, " a 
sadder and wiser man" than when he came aboard, our cap- 
tain hoped he would not let him catch him in a similar 
scrape again, or he would give him a double dose of the 
same physic. This was the only case in which I saw the 
captain of one of these vessels flogged, and I thought our 
captain must have greatly exceeded his powers by the pro- 
ceeding; but I was told by some of the old hands that it was 
not at all uncommon, and that they had often witnessed 
similar occurrences. For my own part I must say that I 
highly admired this simple and primitive mode of adminis- 
tering justice, and could scarce help thinking that the good 
old plan of the commander of the Faithful, Haroun Alraschid 
of glorious memory, sometimes possessed its advantages. 

Notwithstanding the delights of this enchanting region, 
few of our men were sorry, when, our three years having 
nearly expired, we were ordered home ; at least if one might 
judge from the appearance of the crew, who, when the news 
was communicated, seemed all as happy as if they were 
going ashore on a day's leave, or had just been ordered a 
double allowance of grog. We soon reached the Cape of 
vjood Hope, but on arriving there, we found that a rebellion 
had broken out among the Dutch boors ; and that this would 



A BRUSH WITH THE BOORS. 83 

occasion our being sent up the coast a day or two's sail, to 
the reUef of a small body of soldiers who were hemmed in by 
a large force of the rebels. These soldiers had been sent to 
quell the insurrection, but the force. they had taken was too 
small ; they had been surrounded by overwhelming numbers, 
and compelled to construct a temporary breastwork, which 
they had gallantly resolved to defend until the last extremity. 
On sailing to the bay where we were to land, we saw that 
the rebels had made an attempt to fortify the harbour, 
having mounted a few guns on a height near its entrance. 
Our captain, either from a desire to spare an effusion of 
blood, or because he had received instructions to that effect, 
sent a lieutenant ashore in the barge with a white flag, to 
try and persuade them to listen to reason. But clemency 
was thrown away upon the stupid boors, who would not 
allow the boat to land, and fired several shots at it from the 
guns of the fort ; on seeing which the lieutenant returned to 
the vessel. 

We now ran in until within a mile or so of the fort and 
dropped anchor, receiving meanwhile a brisk fire from their 
batteries, but which from their ignorance of gunnery did us 
no damage. Before opening our fire, however, a chance 
shot of theirs killed two of our men, and wounded three 
more, putting all ideas of lenity to the scoundrels out of the 
captain's head, and he immediately gave the command to 
commence firing. A tremendous fire was now opened from 
our vessel upon the fort, which never fired another shot in 
return, in a few minutes its only occupants being the 
wounded, the dying, and the dead. The temporary fortifi- 
cation they had been occupying was situated on a promon- 
tory, between which and the wooded country behind, there 
was a sandy neck or isthmus, which was completely exposed 
to our fire, and over which the enemy had to pass in retreat- 



84 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

ing to tlie country. In a few minutes afler our firing com- 
menced, seeing it was not returned^ our captain ordered us 
to cease firing ; when we could see a crowd of several thou- 
sands runninor in a state of the utmost confusion across the 
isthmus. Two or three guns were directed and fired among 
them, doing dreadful execution, when the captain ordered 
the firing to cease, remarking that the poor devils would 
have had enough of it. Our marines and sailors armed 
with muskets and cutlasses were now landed, when we 
found some hundreds of killed and wounded, in and around 
the fort, presenting the most shocking spectacle I ever 
beheld. Our surgeon and his mates set to work on the 
wounded, and spent a few hours in zealously trying to repair 
those injuries, which we had as zealously tried to inflict a 
short time previous. 

Having ascertained that the party of soldiers who were 
ahout eight miles in the interior, still held out, one of the 
most slightly wounded having had his wound dressed, was 
placed on a mule led by one of our men, to conduct us to 
the place. On arriving, we found that the siege had been 
raised that morning, the insurgents having left in great 
panic on seeing the flight of the routed party, who had 
scattered in all directions. The soldiers were in a pitiable 
condition, having been in a state of starvation for the last 
two or three days. They had been closely besieged eight 
days, and their position frequently assaulted, but they had 
always repulsed the enemy with great loss. In fact they 
had killed so many of the assailants, that they had resolved 
rather to die of starvation than surrender, as they felt certain 
of being killed by the enemy in revenge for the loss caused 
by their obstinate resistance. Many of them were so weak 
that we had to take spell about of carrying f lem in litters, 
which we made of the branches of trees ; and it ook us all that 



CHANGES. 85 

day and part of the next to bring tliem aboard. After 
having destroyed and dismounted the guns at the fort, we 
sailed for Cape Town, and having put the soldiers ashore 
there, we proceeded on our homeward voyage. In less than 
two months after this we were paid off at Portsmouth, when 
I received fifty sovereigns as my three years' pay and share 
of prize money. I bought a decent suit of clothes and pro- 
ceeded to London. On arriving there, I learned that my 
father was dead, my sister had married and gone with her 
husband to America, and my step-mother and her family 
had gone into the country to live with some of her friends. 
I came out to New York, where I found employment easily 
enough at my trade, and where, if I had not been a bit of a 
fool, I should still be, I believe. Such are a few of the events 
in the experience of my comrade, Bill N itt. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

Land in sight — Pensacola Bay — Fort Pickens — Rough lodgings—' 
Smuggling Whiskey — A Carouse. 

The captain of the Albatross had brought bis wife along 
with him ; he was an excellent sailor, all the men said, but 
had the prevalent fault of sea captains, he was a little fiery 
in his temper ; which the presence of his wife it is likely 
would help to moderate. Be that, however, as it may, it is 
certain that her excellent and remarkable sailor-like qualifi- 
cations made her the admiration of all on board, as, so far 
from being afraid, she seemed rather to enjoy the excitement 
caused by the appearance of a squall, w^hich at that 
season of the year in these latitudes, are often anything 
the reverse of safe or pleasant. On a stormy and disagreea- 
ble night when the captain considered it to be his duty to 
be upon deck, there was she to be seen along with him ; either 
sitting alongside of her husband in front of the cabin beside 
the wheel, or pacing backwards and forwards on the quarter- 
deck, now and again taking a knowing squint at the rigging 
or the horizon, and anon as abstracted seemingly, as if rumi- 
nating on some deep problem in navigation. The sailors 
declared that she could navigate a vessel as well as any 
captain that ever stept in shoe leather. There might be 
some exaggeration in that statement, however ; and perhaps 
they magnified her powers of managing the ship, from some- 
times witnessing the apparent ease with which she occasion- 
ally succeeded in managing the captain when carried away 



THE FLORIDA COAST. 87 

by those liurricanes of passion wliicli now and then seized 
him. Still if she had studied navigation I see nothing to 
hinder her from being an expert navigator, as she certainly 
would have shown no lack of intrepidity. 

After a prosperous voyage of sixteen days, the low sandy 
coast of Florida became distinctly visible. The first appear- 
ance of land on approaching Pensacola is very singular. 
Long bright lines of silvery white, crowned with a mass of 
dark green vegetation, stretched far athwart the blue horizon, 
suggesting the idea of a strong surf everywhere rolling in 
upon the shore. On a near approach we discover that which 
we thought surf is the beach, the sand of which here is as 
pure and white as drifted snow, which it exactly resembles 
at a distance. The bright and varied hues of the water, 
from dark blue or green to the lighter shades of these 
colours, which the sea presents as we close on the land, the 
dazzling white of the sandy shore, and the heavy masses of the 
dark green pines, strongly relieved against the clear blue sky, 
impart a unique, and at the same time a highly picturesque 
appearance to the bay of Pensacola. 

Fort Pickens, where we were to land two companies, to 
one of which I belonged, is built on the point of a low sandy 
tongue of land, and together with Barrancas and Munroe, 
the two forts opposite, where our other two companies were 
to be stationed, completely commands the entrance of the 
bay. As the water was deep enough to admit of vessels 
coming close to the wharf at Fort Pickens, the Albatross 
vas hauled close up and firmly moored. It was near sun- 
set when we arrived at the fort, and only a few of the old 
soldiers who expected to meet friends and comrades in the 
company stationed there, went ashore, and also the whole of 
the ofiicers, who of course preferred (the lucky dogs) a good 
dinner, and a jovial night ashore, to being cooped up in a 



88 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

ship. Early next morning we disembarked, and after placing 
our arms, equipments, and personal effects in our quarters, 
■vvliicli were only distant a few hundred yards from the 
wharf, we were employed for the remainder of the day in 
bringing the regimental property ashore. 

The numerous uncomfortable circumstances from which 
soldiers usually suffer during a removal, and more especially 
in the United States service, where the idea of having quar- 
ters comfortably arranged for the soldier's reception, on his 
arrival at a new station, is seldom thought of, is the cause 
of a great deal of the drunkenness that commonly prevails 
upon these occasions. The first object of most soldiers upon 
entering a new garrison is to discover where liquor can be 
procured ; neither is this, in spite of all penalties enforced 
and precautions taken, ever a matter of difhcult accomplish- 
ment ; for according to the amount of the prohibition and 
restriction, so is the amount of bounty on the smuggling of 
the article. At Fort Pickens, for instance, when we landed, 
whiskey was sold at a dollar a bottle, an advance of nine 
hundred per cent, upon what it cost at Barrancas on the 
other side of the bay. Having once discovered a sly grog 
shop, the intelligence soon spreads, and in a very short period 
intoxication in every progressive stage, and producing every 
variety of effect, is the order of the day, and sobriety only 
the remarkable exception. In these saturnalia of course a 
few fights occasionally take place, and individuals of pugna- 
cious propensities usually find "ample room and verge 
enough " for their exercise, an excellent field here offering 
for the display of what is fancifully termed the science. 

On the present occasion, the appearance of our quarters 
at Fort Pickens was just the sort of thing to justify or en- 
courage this predisposition to drown care, and the idea of the 
disagreeable and uncomfortable, in a bumper. They con- 



BAD QUARTERS. 89 

sisted of a large bomb-proof casemate, exceedingly dirty- 
having been occupied up to tlie day of our arrival by a party 
of negroes, who were employed in making repairs on the 
fort and garrison. There was not a particle of furniture of 
any description in this room ; the floor, which was composed 
of bricks, was covered with mud and wood ashes, as the 
negroes had kept a fire burning on the floor to keep the mos- 
quitoes away ; notwithstanding this, they were still plentiful 
here, thoiigh the cold weather was setting in. The ashes 
had been allowed to accumulate on the floor, which was also 
additionally garnished and ornamented with skins of yams, 
fish bones, dried peppers, and other tropical litter of a lazy 
negro's hut, giving it much the appearance of a tolerably 
dry dunghill. Nutt and I swept a corner of this miserable 
den, and having, on a search round the garrison, procured a 
few boards, on these we spread our blankets, and thus pre- 
pared our bed for the night ; the absence of a mattress was 
not of great importance, as we had been accustomed to dis- 
pense with that needless luxury while on board ship. In the 
American, service by the bye, soldiers always lie on the boards 
when on board ship ; in the British service, where the health 
and comfort of a soldier are objects of study and solicitude, 
a different custom prevails ; a clean blanket and mattress 
being issued to the soldier on his going on board, and taken 
into store when he leaves the vessel. However, my comrade 
Bill Nutt and I congratulated ourselves on our good fortune 
in having procured the boards to lie upon, as the majority 
seemed to have no alternative but to sit, stand, or lie down 
on the brick floor, cold, damp, and dirty as it was, and at the 
imminent risk of catching a cold, or a touch of rheumatism. 
Under these circumstances, it need excite no extravagant 
surprise, that whiskey, when it could be procured, was 
speedily had recourse to, as a cure for all those discomforts 



00 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

and annoyances from wliich there seemed no other mode of 
escape. Such, at all events, was the practice of most of our 
men on this evening ; and such seemed to be the course de- 
cided on by a party of honest fellows belonging to the com- 
pany, who, on their way out, stopped to ask Nutt and me to 
go along with them. As neither of us were teetotallers, and 
as we lelt rather fatigued with our day's work, carrying 
boxe'o up from the wharf, we could offer no reasonable objec- 
tion to the proposal : so accepting the invitation, we were 
soon on our way to the place where the whiskey was sold. 
This illicit traffic was carried on by the blacks, at the time 
employed in the repairs of the fort. These blacks were 
slaves, and hired out by their owners to government ; some 
of them had been taught the trade of bricklaying, and their 
owners received upwards of twenty dollars a month for their 
labor, after deducting the cost of the slave's living. One of 
these slaves could not have been purchased under a thou- 
sand dollars ; they were young, healthy, and intelligent-look- 
ing negroes, speaking remarkably good English with great 
fluency, better than most of the soldiers in the fort. They had 
an abundant supply of the corn whiskey used in the States, 
a coarse liquor, unpleasant in taste, and intoxicating in the 
proportion of about two bottles to one of the low priced 
Irish or Scotch whiskey. This whiskey is sold in New York, 
New Orleans, and most large cities of the Union at twenty 
cents a gallon, and could be obtained on the opposite side 
of the bay, at Barrancas, where tl:ese negroes bought it, at 
fifty cents a gallon. They retailed it at a dollar a bottle, or 
five dollars a gallon, clearing the very moderate profit of 
nine hundred per cent, on their business, but they in- 
curred the risk of a severe flogging if detected selling liquor 
to soldiers. One of our party having gone up to the window 
of one cf the huts in which these black fellows lived, speed- 



A FREE AND EASY. 91 

ily returned with four bottles of whiskey. With these, 
having adjourned to a conveniont distance to permit our 
indulging in free discourse, without any risk of being dis- 
turbed, we sat down on the sand, and passing the bottle 
round, we drank in succession without the useless accom- 
paniment of glasses. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Surprise — Doctor Brown — Fishing at Pensacola — ^Bathers and 

Sharks. 

It was a beautiful calm evening, and tlie stars were shining 
with the lustrous brilliancy peculiar to tropical skies, the 
atmosphere was deliciously warm, without feeling in the least 
oppressive, the breeze being just enough to moderate the 
heat, and keep the mosquitoes at their proper distance. Our 
party was comfortably reclining on a sandbank facing the 
bay, whose murmuring waves rippled within twenty or thirty 
yards of our resting-place ; all seemed to enjoy the scene, 
and all agreed in declaring the whiskey, which circulated 
with astonishing rapidity, to be a very good article. We 
were soon, thanks to the whiskey, in a philosophic and good- 
humoured disposition, and quite ready to laugh at all the 
petty miseries and annoyances of human life, as a very good 
sort of joke, and one not in the slightest degree interfering 
with our present delightful entertainment. One of the party, 
named Davis, being of a speculative turn, favoured us 
with a short dissertation on the excessive absurdity of the 
common opinion, that there ever could be such a quality in 
existence as positive good or evil, these terms being converti- 
ble or comparative. This position he proceeded to illustrate 
in a manner which I have no doubt would have been highly 
satisfactory and ingenious, when he was requested to " cut it 
short," by Bob Madden, a man of a jDractical turn, who wislied 
1(5 favour the company by singing the "Cruiskeen Lawn.'* 



UNWELCOME VISITORS. 93 

Tliis having been sung accordingly, and duly cliorussed, 
drinking, smoking, singing, joking, and laughing, passed the 
time until near tattoo, by which time we had got pretty deep 
into the third bottle, and began to think of retiring. Unfor- 
tunately, however, for the harmonious ending of what had 
been so well begun, the whiskey now began to show some 
of its asual eftects, by producing a strong inclination for 
exhibiting, and 

*' Faeh, for madness ruled the hour, 
Would prove his own expressive power." 

Davis lectured with much apparent earnestness of manner and 
animation, on what I believe he called " The Political Policy 
of the Peruvians,^' to several of the party, who were strain- 
ing their energies in a vain attempt to follow the tropes and 
figures of his rhetoric. Bob Madden, who hated long speeches, 
as he hated an unfilled can, bawled at the highest pitch of 
his voice, " Cease, rude Boreas, blustering railer," which 
Davis, construing into a designed intention of insult and 
interruption, became perfectly savage, and declared his inten- 
tion of taking* it out of Bob, by pitching into him. At this 
stage of the proceedings, the officer of the day, who had 
heard the noise our party had been making for some time 
previous, dispatched a corporal and a file of the guard to 
convey us prisoners to the guard-house. Nutt, who was 
generally upon the alert, and who had been looking for some 
such interruption, gave us the hint just in time, and we started 
to our feet and ran, with the guard in chase. But on these 
occasions the guard is seldom anxious to make prisoners^ 
and only that one of the party, named Dymond, happened to 
fall and get stunned, so that he could not run, there would 
have be«n no prisoners made. As it was, he was taken to 
the guard-house. 



94 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

Unluckily for the prisoner, the officer of the day had 
followed the party of the guard himself, and observing the 
bottles, which, in our hurried retreat, we had left on the sand- 
hill, he picked them up, and found one of them full and 
another containing a portion of whiskey. The empty bottles, 
by " the scent of the whiskey that hung round them still," 
gave sufficient indication that they had been recently emptied 
of similar contents, and were the cause of the present fracas. 
The officer ordered the corporal of the guard to secure these 
bacchanalian trophies, and give them in charge to the ser- 
geant, and next morning he had them sent for and produced 
before the commanding officer, as a proof of the extent to 
which this illicit traffic in whiskey was carried on in the 
garrison. Dymond was then sent for, and questioned as to 
where he got the liquor, and the parties who were along with 
him. But neither threats nor promises could prevail on him 
to betray either the one or the other, and he was kept in 
confinement for nearly a month, during which time he w^as 
not forgotten by his comrades, but being considered a martyr 
to an honourable principle, was furnished with everything that 
was supposed likely to soften the rigour of confinement. As 
for the remainder of our convivial party, we answered our 
names at tattoo on going home that evening, after which we 
went to sleep, and were never questioned about the matter. 

Such is a specimen of our proceedings on the first night 
after landing at Fort Pickens, and such is the mode in which 
drinking is commonly practised in that service. A degrad- 
ing custom, producing habits of beastly intoxication, and 
having its origin in the erroneous manner in which soldiers 
are treated in that service, where a systematic course of pro- 
cedure, calculated to degrade " a soldier, and annihilate his 
self-respect, seems to be in constant operation. If in place of 
prohibiting the soldier from ever going into a tavern, or tasting 



PHYSICAL DISCOMFORTS. 95 

spirits, under a regard, forsootli, for his morals, and a pretence 
of keeping him sober, they were to make him a little more 
comfortable in his quarters, they would probably succeed a 
little better in regulating the soldier's conduct. And if, in 
addition, they were to establish, as in the British service, a 
tavern in every garrison, where riotous conduct or drunken- 
ness would not be permitted, but where the soldier could sit 
down and enjoy himself in a moderate and rational manner, 
I could safely venture to predict, that the practice, now pre- 
valent, of drinking out of bottles until beastly intoxication 
ensues, would cease to exist. 

On the second morning after our arrival we had our quar- 
ters thoroughly cleaned, and were supplied with bedsteads, 
but we soon discovered that no cleaning would render the 
quarters comfortable. They were dark, damp, and badly 
ventilated, the walls in rainy weather dripping with wet, and 
in the still, close evenings, they swaraied with mosquitoes. 
A good deal of sickness was complained of by the men, 
though the winter had set in, which in the south is the 
healthy period of the year, and the approach of which is 
welcomed as cordially by the whites, as the summer is by the 
inhabitants of cold or temperate climates. This was com- 
monly attributed to the badness of our quarters, and I have 
no doubt that was a principal cause ; still the change of cli- 
mate and water, and the careless and intemperate habits of a 
large proportion of the men, with the hardships and priva- 
tions of the voyage, might sufficiently account for much of the 
disease prevalent, which consisted of fever and ague, colds, 
rheumatism, and diarrhoea. Our surgeon, who came over 
from Barrancas every morning to visit the sick, was rather 
an original and eccentric individual in his manner. When a 
patient described his malady and its symptoms, he invaria- 
bly assured him that he need be under no apprehension or 



96 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

alarm about it, as it was a mere trifle, and easily subdued by 
refusing to yield to it. He had the same complaint himself, 
he said, but luckily his duty compelled him to move about, 
so that he could not give way to disease, for want of time. 
As he told every description of patient the identical same 
story, he became at last quite an object of curiosity ; for 
though of thin and spare habit, this victim, according to his 
own account, of the most complicated variety of diseases that 
ever afflicted one poor individual at a time, was yet cheerful, 
active, and vigorous. While giving his patients medicine, it 
was his custom to inculcate strongly the advantages of absti- 
nence and exercise, in the prevention and cure of disease ; he 
generally quoted his own case as an example in point, some- 
times remarking that he would have been dead long ago, if 
he had not made a resolution not to die as long as he could 
help it. Our men gave him the sobriquet of Doctor Brown, 
from the resemblance which his advices bore to those given 
by Doctor Brown to his apprentice, in the song, the following 
distich of which was often sung in his hearing as he passed 
through the barrack square, though if he perceived, he never 
took any notice of the allusion : — 

" lie often says, with much elooxition, 
Hard work, low diet, and a good resolution, 
Are the only things for the constitution. 

Oh! Doctor Brown." 

Da\ns, who was fond of propounding theories on the perplex- 
ing and inexplicable, said he considered that the gi'eat variety 
of diseases to which the doctor was subject was probably 
rather in his favour, as their antagonistic properties, by neu- 
tralising and counteracting each other's bad effects, might 
preserve a beneficial balance in the system. To which lucid 
explanation Bob Madden responded, by asking Davis if he 



FISH AND FISHIN& 97 

saw anything particularly green about liini, a remark which 
Davis of course considered beneath reply. 

Shortly after our arrival at Fort Pickens, at the suo-p-es- 
tion of our ofRcei-s, we subscribed a dollar apiece for the 
purchase of a seine, by means of which we procured an abun- 
dant supply of fish, as the bay literally swarmed with them. 
We usually hauled the seine twice or thrice a week, pro- 
curing with ease a barrel or two of excellent fish, weighing 
from half a pound to three or four pounds each ; any of 
smaller size we threw into the sea again. The fish we prin- 
cipally caught were mullet, which are very delicious fish ; 
for four or five months during the winter, when they are in 
season, immense shoals of them frequent the coast of Florida ; 
they feed on mollusca and are never caught with bait, nei- 
ther are they ever found on the northern coast of America. 
Sheepshead, another very excellent fish which we commonly 
caught, has its name from the appearance of its mouth and 
teeth, which have a striking resemblance to those of a sheep. 
These last, with perch, cat-fish, trout, and various others, 
might easily be caught by fishing at the wharf with a line, but 
as the seine furnished a superabundant supply for the use of 
the garrison, fishing with the line was not much practised. 
There was one species of fish in the bay of Pensacola, how- 
ever, which we could have very gladly dispensed with ; these 
were sharks, which were both numerous, and of most incre- 
dible size and voracity. A short time before the arrival of 
our regiment a sailor, who had fallen overboard from the 
rigging of a man-of-war lying at the Navy Yard, was almost 
instantly devoured by these ravenous monsters, in the sight of 
his horror-stricken shipmates, who could render him no 
assistance, so sudden was the catastrophe. The crew of the 
man-of-war, while they remained there, had waged an inces- 
sant war with the sharks, in revenge for the loss of their 

5 



98 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

comrade ; and liad killed a great mair^, but without having 
produced any apparent decrease in their numbers. The oft'al 
which is thrown overboard by the men-of-war, one or two of 
whom are constantly lying off the Navy Yard, is probably 
the cause of the presence of so many of these unwelcome 
visitors. One of our officers, desiring to have a specimen of 
these sharks, employed the ordnance sergeant to catch one. 
Accordingly a stout shark's line was furnished for the occa- 
sion, consisting of fifty or sixty fathoms of what would be 
considered tolerably thick rope for a horse halter. A shark's 
hook, consisting of three or four branching out of a single stalk, 
and about the size of butchers' hooks, attached to a stout iron 
chain, and baited with a four pound piece of pork, the whole 
being well fastened to the line, which was made fast to a 
mooring post on the wharf, was thrown into the sea opposite 
the wharf. The line was left in charge of the sentry on the 
wharf, who had orders to send up word to the garrison as 
soon as he perceived that a shark had taken the bait. But 
the sentry had neglected the order, and seeing the line tight 
he began to haul in upon it with all his might. The shark, 
taken by surprise at the novelty of his situation, yielded a 
little at first, and then suddenly making a desperate rush, he 
dragged the sentry into the water, and he very narrowly 
escaped drowning, but was luckily saved by holding on to 
the line till some of the men who were near came to liis 
assistance. A sufficient number of men having speedily 
arrived, the shark was hauled on the beach alongside the 
wharf, and dispatched with bayonets and cutlasses ; when 
measured it was found to be eleven feet lo^.g. Its frightfully 
capacious jaws, full of jagged, saw-hke t'^-eth, were taken out 
of the head and preserved by the ord'iance sergeant ; when 
fully extended the jaws would easily admit a stout man's 
shoulders to pass through them. I had frequently seen them 



FOOL-HARDINESS. 99 

caught when at sea, five or six feet in length, but never any- 
thing to compare with this monster of the deep. 

One would imagine that with a knowledge of the existence 
of such creatures in the bay, swimming in deep water would 
have been totally out of the question at Pensacola, but there 
are strange reckless beings everywhere fond of excitement, 
and of the credit of doing something of which everybody else 
would be afraid. One morning two ^ three of the men 
being on the wharf, and the conversation happening to turn 
on the shark which had been caught a few days previously, 
and the danger any person would incur by swimming there ; 
one of them offered for a trifling wager to jump in from the 
wharf, and swim in deep water for a period of five minutes. 
The wager was accepted, and the fool-hardy hero was strip- 
ping to jump in, when the sentry stationed on the wharf 
interfered, and ordered him to put on his clothes. This he 
refused to do, and the sentry very properly made him a 
prisoner, and sending for the corporal of the guard, he was 
taken to the guard-house. The commanding officer, on 
learning the circumstance, complimented the sentry on his 
conduct; and issued an order prohibiting soldiers from 
bathing in deep water. 



^^C. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Tampa Bay — Indian Paradise — Beautiful Squaws — Forest Life — ^The 
Hummocks — Snakes — Rumours of "War — Lost in the Wood. 

The surface of tlie ground, both within the garrison, and 
everywhere in the vicinity of Fort Pickens, is entirely com- 
posed of fine sand, which is so white and dazzling, especially 
when the sun is shining, as to have a most unpleasant and 
injurious effect upon the eyes. The situation is also very 
unhealthy during the summer, the fatally destructive yellow 
fever being frequently prevalent during the hot season. It 
was therefore with a great deal of satisfaction that the com- 
pany to which I belonged, after having been about a month 
at Fort Pickens, received the order to proceed to Tampa 
Ray. We embarked in a brig called the Isabella on the 
2nd of November, and bidding adieu to those of our com- 
rades whom we were leaving behind at Fort Pickens, after a 
pleasant voyage of two days we anchored about seven or 
eight miles from the village and garrison in Tampa Bay, 
tbat being as near as vessels above the size of a light schoo- 
ner can approacli, on account of the extreme shoalness of the 
bay. 

It was evening when we arrived, and early next morning 
a small government sloop called the " Star," arrived from 
the garrison for the purpose of taking us ashore. About 
one-half of us contrived to stow ourselves into it, along with 
our muskets and knapsacks, though rather crowded. She 
was to go back for the remainder after we were landed. 



TAMPA BAY. 101 

After tacking about in the bay until near evening, the wind 
being nearly ahead, we finally succeeded in reaching the 
wharf. The appearance of the land, when viewed from the 
deck of a vessel in the bay, is like most of the views along 
the coast of Florida, of a rather tame and circumscribed 
character; as, owing to the perfectly dead level of the 
country, a green belt of vegetation covering a sandy beach 
is all that the eye can discover. On a nearer approach, 
however, as its distinctive features become more easily 
defined, they arrange themselves into something more nearly 
akin to the beautiful and the picturesque. 

Tampa Bay is a neat little village of wooden houses, 
situated at the mouth of the river Hillsboro, and close to the 
garrison. There is a small traffic carried on between it and 
the few scattered settlers of the neighbourhood, who bring in 
their surplus produce and exchange it here for goods or 
money. Its situation is reckoned to be one of the most 
healthy and salubrious in Florida; but as the land in the 
vicinity is mostly of a poor quality, and as the bay is diffi- 
cult of approach for shipping, it does not seem destined to 
rise very rapidly in importance. The barracks, which may 
almost be said to be part of the village, are a long range of 
log buildings erected by the troops during the Florida 
Indian war in ISSV. They have a covered gallery all round, 
and are well adapted to the climate of Florida, being raised 
about three feet from the gi-ound, high in the roof and well 
ventilated. They are also built on the highest part of the 
garrison, about fifteen feet above the level of the sea, an 
unusually great elevation on the coast of Florida. 

We were all delighted, on landing, with the appearance of 
the garrison, its neat white-washed buildings, and its grassy 
parade ; while round the neat cottages in which the officers 
and their families livexl, grew rows of orange and lime trees 



102 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

thickly covered with their golden fruit, then nearly ripe. In 
front of the barracks there stood a noble grove of live 
oak trees, which afforded a delicious shade from the scorch- 
ing heat of the sun, and gave an air of quiet, and an 
expression of sylvan beauty to the scene. The long grey- 
beard and wierdlike Spanish moss, that droops in huge 
masses from the rough brawny arms of these giants of the 
primeval forest, gives them a venerable and druidical appear 
ance which is exceedingly picturesque. This moss, which 
takes root in the bark, grows on many of the trees in 
Florida, though I never saw any on the pine. But above all 
it seems to love the live oak, to whose strong arm it clings 
with devoted affection ; depending in long flexile drapes that 
swing most gracefully in the breeze. The proper name 
of this plant is tillandsea ; it is of a grey colour, and not 
unlike long rough beards of a gigantic size in appearance. 
It has a very small yellow blossom, and pod containing 
seed, and is very valuable when properly cured, being 
commonly applied to all those purposes for which curled 
hair is used, such as stuffing mattresses, sofas, and chairs. 
To prepare it for this purpose it is gathered from the trees 
with long hooks, and afterwards put into water for a few 
days to rot the outer part, and then dried. The substance 
obtained by this process is a fine black fibre resembling 
horse hair. A mattress stuffed with this substance may 
serve for a year if not wetted; it then becomes dirty, 
and requires that the moss should be taken out and well 
beaten ; by which means it becomes more elastic than ever. 
I had a mattress filled with it thus prepared, when I was 
at Tampa Bay, and I thought it one of the most comfort- 
able beds I ever slept on. 

On arriving at Tampa Bay we found another company of 
our regiment stationed there, two companies being considered 



TliE EVERGLADES. 103 

requisite for the protection of the inhabitants against any 
sudden outbreak of the Indians. These, to the amount of 
several hundred warriors, besides squaws and children, still 
occupy a large tract of Florida called the Everglades ; where 
they live in the same state of rude savage life to which they 
were accustomed ere the first of the pale faces left a foot- 
print on their sandy shores. They have game in abundance, 
herds of deer roam through the plains and glades, and crop 
their luxuriant herbage ; numerous flocks of wild turkeys 
roost in the hummocks at night, and feed in the openings 
and pine barrens by day ; and in the creeks and bays of the 
sea coast, or in the large fresh water lakes of the interior, 
incredible quantities of delicious fish are easily caught. 
Round their villages, in the selection of a site for Avhich 
they display excellent taste and judgment, they usually cul- 
tivate a small portion of the soil in raising maize, or 
edible roots ; and the little labour which this requires is per- 
formed by the women and children. In this delicious 
climate, where there is perpetual verdure, and where the 
existence of cold or winter is scarcely known or felt, the mode 
of living of these savages seems not so very disagreeable, 
and with their ideas of comfort they must find Florida 
a complete Indian paradise. It is not much to be wondered 
at, therefore, to find them so reluctant to leave for a 
new home among the tribes of the Lidian Territory. Sooner 
than submit to this, about fifteen years ago they waged 
an unequal war with the United States ; which lasted several 
years, and cost America nearly as much, it is said, as the 
late war in Mexico. At the present time there are not in 
Florida more than a fourth, it is supposed, of the number 
who were there at the commencement of the war ; as a 
great many of them at various times accepted the terms 
offered by the government of the United States, and 



104 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIEK N MEXICO. 

were transported to a tract of land called the Indian Terri- 
tory, lying between Arkansas and tlie Kocky Mount ains*. 
Those who refused to leave, and who were finally permitted 
to remain in a portion of Florida defined by certain bounda- 
ries, have been variously estimated at from three to five 
hundred warriors. But as they have almost no intercourse 
with the inhabitants, white men not being suffered to 
approach their villages, it is very difficult to form anything 
like a correct estimate of their numbers. The government 
agent, stationed at Fort Charlotte, a small settlement near 
their boundary line, for the purpose of trading with them, 
and who has been desired by the government to endeavour 
without exciting their suspicions to ascertain their numbers, 
reckons them at five hundred, exclusive of women and 
children. Those who remain are part of the tribe or nation 
of Seminoles ; they were as tall on an average as the men of 
our regiment, and though not near so athletic or muscular, 
generally more graceful in personal appearance. They have 
more yellow than copper in their complexion, and have the 
high prominent cheek bones, and that quick, furtive, and 
suspicious glance of the Indian race, which seems watching 
every moment to make a sudden spring in the event of any 
appearance of treachery. Some of their young squaws have 
a very pleasing expression of countenance, and I have seen 
one or two of these who I believe would be pronounced 
beautiful if compared with the prouder belles of European 
cities. The men, or warriors, walk with a most dignified 
and majestic carriage, and an air of stoic composure highly 
imposing. They wear moccasins made of dee --skin, and of 
their own manufacture ; and go bare-legged in a ^hort-sleeved 
sort of tunic, confined at the waist and falling down nearly 
to the knees in the manner of a Highlander's kilt, to 
whose ancient costume that of the Florida Indians of the 



INDIAN VISITORS. 105 

present day bears a considerable resemblance, especially 
when seen at a short distance. Some of them ornament 
their dress with beads and shells, which they sometimes wear 
in their hair also, and both men and women are fond ol 
wearing large silver rings in their ears and through their 
nostrils. 

Parties of twenty or thirty of these strange-looking visitors 
frequently came into the village of Tampa Bay while we lay 
there. They were always accompanied by a sub-chief, a sort of 
lieutenant, who had charge of the party, and their object was 
to exchange deer-skins for powder and other necessary arti- 
cles. They frequently brought a few turkeys or a few pieces of 
venison, part of the game they had shot as they came along ; 
these they sold cheap enough, a turkey fetching a quarter, 
and a piece of venison of fifteen or twenty pounds weight, 
half a dollar. They always visited the barracks when they 
came to the village, walking through the rooms and shaking 
hands with the soldiers in a perfectly friendly manner. None 
of them, however, understood English, and we were all equally 
ignorant of the Seminole, so that our discourse was necessarily 
limited to the language of pantomime, at which they seemed 
a vast deal more apt than our men. They showed us marks 
of gunshot wounds they had received in the Florida war on 
various parts of their bodies, pointing to our muskets at the 
same time and shaking their heads ; and they seemed highly 
delighted when one or two of our soldiers, who had been in 
the Florida war, showed them similar marks, making signs 
that they had received them from the Indians. They laughed 
and talked to one another with great animation and glee at 
this circumstance. But the great attraction for them was two 
six-pounder pieces, which stood in front of the quarters ; they 
always approached these with looks of the greatest curiosity, 
and apparent awe, cautiously patting them as if to propitiate 

6* 



\0\} WA'KNTUUTCS OK A SOI.PIKU IN MICXITD. 

tluMU. 'riu'\ li;iV(* (lu< nh>st t>\n«;'L:;tM";ihHl ideas i>t' |Ium1(>s(i'iu*' 
{'wo i>tt\^'ts of artillcn , otwliii'li lliov staiul in liorriMi^ (lri>;ul ; 
Miul some (>(' our uirn who wimo in tlio Florida war assorUnl 
that !i rliii't" I'auso of so many liulians luivini;" siUTOiuloivil 
towards (ho idos^^ <>f (ho war, >Yas oNvinn* (o (ho Amorioaua 
ha\ iui;- jM\>v'nroil two or tliroo lii;h( hold piooos, (hoiiij^h, owing 
(o (ho swampv iiaturo o[' (ho oouutrN, tho\' oi>uld not havo 
usod thoiu. As (hoy always hohavod i^uiody in (ho garrison, 
thoy wore novor hiniloroil from s( rolling; round any part of it, 
s(rio( ordors hoini;' i^'ivon to tho soldiers n<>t (o nu>los(. (honi. 
riiON nsotl no nioro ooroiuony with (ho ollioors than with 
(ho nion, tVoquontlv walkini;" up to (honi on (ho pai'ado, or 
into thoir quartors. and otVoriu<;- (o shako hands with tlu'ui 
with tho most portoot iionc/ia/aNcc. 

On paying* ouo o( (hoso visits (o (ho villa^o i( was custo- 
mary for thom to havo a bout o( ilriidiing and dancing*; a 
sort of Indian ball, whioh thov hold in a vard bohind a liouso 
in tho villagv aj>propria(od oxolusivoly (o (hoir iiso. Tho 
on(or(ainmou(s of (ho ovouing, on (hoso occasions, usually 
coiisistovi in smoking* and drinking whiskov un(il pro(ty lato, 
a tow o! thom dancing at intor\als in tho most ungracoful juul 
oven ludicrous attituvlos imaginable. Thov wound up tlio 
ovouing generally with a war dance, in which all who Avoro 
not too drunk joined. This dance commences slow at tivst 
to a low monotonous chaunt, and increases in rajnditv of 
time and movement un(il, like (ho wi(clies' dance in Tam o' 
8han(or, ** tlio mirth and ("un grow tast and ("urious,'' and (hev 
yell Hud w hoop like a sot of liomons or incarnate tionds. On 
those occasions, (hoy sometimes tpiarrollod among thomsolvoss 
and ended tho niglii with a general s«|uabblo ; vet as care 
was always taken, on their arrival, to havo (heir arm (akeu 
iVom them auvl locked up, until they were ready (o return 
homo, there was no danger of any serious accident occurring. 



GENERAL DEBOKII'TJON OF FLORilM. lO*/ 

Flori'Iu rcA'A'AVi'A itH nurri'- frorrj .luun \'<,u<m (\<; L'-ou. fr'/rr. 
Ijih hiiw'uni^ (\'m-/)V(ircA\ it on i^alrn Sii/iday (Jn Hpanihh Vim^un 
J'lori'ia), irj J .0 1 2 ; and not, an niany of itn inliahil^nt^ U;)j<;v<;, 
on ii('/-/)uu\, of th': \)<jxuiy of t}»'; wild ilowi-.m and th/i 
Hhrubh vvljjch it \ir<A\i<-/'M, HtKi ()i which it o/nri^Utly o.x\n\nU 
a Hpl<;ndid profii>si^»n, Jt. in natural, however, f/> KUpfK^j, that 
the cMarm of the w;^;nery, and OHpoAihiWy the mn^ulHr beauty 
and lijxurianryj of many of the htranj/e nhruf/h and tr''/!?-;, which 
would w;em h^^ wonderful U-> th'; .Spaniard>; on their hf>:t land- 
ing, rnay have c/}iii\nn<A the a/Joption r>f' the id';a originally 
HuggCHU^l by it» htriking approprial/in^jSH, A gr^jat portion 
of the j>(in\uini]si of Florida i» nandy, and not muir;h a/laptcjd 
tf> cultivation ; but there are rich tra/;t«i }jere and there '/>fn- 
\)<yr>('A of \i\uiiin()ck h.u<\ ftwanjp, which may yet, when cAhhroA 
and (Irdhn'jl, yield a rich reward t/> the CyuMwaUtr. There arc 
horrje \)r<'AXy (ixUiumya (^At/m plantationi* on f!/>me parl>> of it, 
and nu^ar-cawi, t/^ba^xx>, rir;/*, iwXiAn c^^rn, arj/1 every oth/f^r 
variety of tropi^^al produr/; or fruits*, may Uj F^ic^/jftHfully cul- 
i'iVhUA wlihrh the h^>il iis g^x>d. Still, as long a^s the Jndiarm 
remain in ite bordern, it^ r(H¥Air(yhin will never ^lave a fisiir 
<t,]i'dUCAi of d^jvelopment, as the distant aatihr can Irnvti no 
hhC'Mnty for life or property while they are in th/jj vicinity. 
Jjuring the wint<;r the weather in VUjrAa. U delightful, the 
ground U;irjg ^pjit/; dry and tliC atrn^^phere clear, and of tljat 
exquihit^i medium with regard t^^ heat, neither U>o h^/t nor t/x> 
^x>hl, which one ff-^jbi to give a braf;ing and invigorating U^fjiij 
to the coriiititution, and a pheasant buoyancy to tli/i spirit*. 
In fiumrner the groufi/J iis wet and Hwarnpy, a large part f>f 
the Burfa/^; refe^imbling a o/)m\>ViU: rnarhh, owing t/^ the fre- 
quent and heavy raini^ which fall during that feeav^n, the level 
nature of tJie ftur£!«/;e, an^l ba^i natural drainage. Jt wa« pur- 
cluihiA from Spain by the V'mUA States in ]^2J, and wa^ 
confttitut^/l a htaie 'd 184o. 



108 ADTENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

Our duties were very light while we lay at Tampa Bay, 
we mounted guard about once every fourth day on an ave- 
rage, and when off guard we had two parades each day, suc- 
ceeded by an hour's drilL On the morning after that on 
which we came off guard we had to work a few hours in 
policing the garrison, and in cutting the usual allowance of 
wood for general consumption ; the rest of our time, except 
that required for cleaning our clothes, arms, and accoutre- 
ments, was at our own disposal. Our commanding officer, 
while we lay at this post, adopted an excellent method for 
teaching young soldiers how to use their muskets with effect. 
As we always loaded with ball cartridge when we mounted 
guard, in place of drawing the cartridge when we were relieved 
on the succeeding morning, we were marched down in front 
of a 'target, which stood with its back to the sea; and being 
placed at a distance of about a hundred and twenty yards 
from it, each of the guard discharged his musket at it in suc- 
cession. The sergeant of the guard accurately marked each 
shot, and he whose ball went nearest the centre of the target 
was excused from mounting guard the next time it came tc 
his turn. This produced a great deal of emulation amongst 
all hands, and the result was, that most of them soon became 
excellent shots. 

Having so much spare time on hand, our men frequently 
took long rambles into the woods, especially during the fine 
dry weather ; and on these occasions, for some time after our 
arrival in Tampa Bay, there was a danger of getting so 
utterly lost in the woods, as not to be able to find the way 
home ; thus incurring a serious risk of dying of starvation. 
An occurrence of this description happened shortly after our 
arrival, showing the necessity of caution in making these 
excursions, at least until we were a little better acquainted 
with the surrounding country. A young man belonging to 



LOST IN THE WOODS. 109 

our comj«,ny had gone out shooting one day, by himself, and 
in his eagerness for the sport he had gone a considerable 
distance away from the path, without having paid sufficient 
attention to the direction in which it lay, to le able to find 
it again. When he began to think of returning, he found 
himself completely bewildered by the resemblance which one 
part of the flat, monotonous pine forest bore to another, and 
wandered about until evening, trying to find the footpath, 
but without success. As he had not returned next morning, 
his absence caused much speculation, and our lieutenant, 
thinking it probable that he might be starved in the woods 
if not soon discovered and assisted, sent a party of twelve 
men out to search for him. They were to go in parties of 
two or three, and to fire their muskets occasionally, at* some 
distance from the road, taking care not to lose their way back 
to it themselves. After a few hours' search, he was disco- 
vered about six miles from the garrison, and within a mile 
from the footpath. He was very nearly exhausted when 
found by the party, and but for the measures taken by the 
lieutenant, it is probable that he would soon have died of 
sheer hunger and fatigue, as he had not the slightest idea 
of being able to find his way home, and Avas so nearly worn 
out, that he could not have walked much further. He had 
been Avithout food for about thirty hours, during which time 
he supposed he had walked between thirty and forty miles, 
in the hope of arriving at some habitation or road that would 
lead to one, but without success ; and he was beginning to 
lose all hope, when he heard th> firing of the f arty. In 
this portion of Florida, it is impossiMe to travel above a few 
miles without having to make a circi.'it to avoid an impassa- 
ble swamp, or impenetrable thicket caUed a hummock ; and 
being diverted from pursuing a straight course by these 
obstacles, he had probably been describing a series of circles 



110 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

within a sliort distance of wjiere lie was discovered. All his 
ammunition had been expended before he knew that he had 
lost his way, so that he had not the means of killing game 
or kindling a fire ; but at night he had pulled a quantity of 
long grass which grew there, and covering himself up with 
it, he managed to sleep a few hours. One of the party, at 
the suggestion of the lieutenant, who furnished it himself for 
the purpose, had brought a flask of brandy along with him, 
and having given him a portion of it mixed with water, and 
a sandwich, he was soon so far recovered, as to be able to 
walk home to the Fort along with the party. 

The hummocks of Florida are a peculiar feature of the 
country. The uncleared lands, consisting of what is called 
pine Jbarrens, are wholly composed of large pine trees open 
to air and light, and between which there thrives a luxuriant 
undergrowth of palmettoes, and a great variety of richly 
scented and gorgeously-coloured flowering shrubs. A savan- 
nah of tall strong grass, five or six feet in length, which' 
occurs here and there, and an occasional swamp, are the only 
relieving features, besides the hummocks, which diversify the 
dreary monotony of these interminable pine barrens, covering 
nearly the whole surface of the state, of which there is, com- 
paratively speaking, but a small portion under cultivation. 
At intervals of a few miles, dense forest thickets, containing 
magnificent trees of every description common in Florida, 
except the pine, occur in travelling through these pine bar- 
rens. Oak, liquid amber, hickory, chestnut, cotton-wood, and 
magnolia, are among the varieties found in the hummocks, 
which vary in size from about one mile to two or three in 
circumference. The bottoms of many parts of them are 
usually swampy, and there is a thick undergrowth of thorny 
shrubs and vines, which makes it exceedingly difiicult to 
penetrate into their dark recesses. During the Florida war, 



NATURAL FORTRESSES. Ill 

the constant places of refuge for the Indians were the hum- 
mocks, ani woe to the soldiers who followed them too rashly ; 
Uncle Sai.i's troops being no match for the red men in those 
natural and almost impregnable fortresses. Wounded deer 
frequently fly to them for shelter, and when one of them 
succeeds in reaching the skirts of a hummock, after having 
been wounded at some distance, without the assistance of a 
good dog, there is small chance of discovering its dying place. 
I have sometimes been seduced into their dark and sombre 
shades, in following a flock of turkeys which had taken shel- 
ter in the branches of some of the gigantic trees ; on such 
occasions I have generally been compelled to emerge from 
their treacherous recesses with torn clothes, face and hands 
scratched, and bemired up to the middle with the mud of the 
swamp. In going through these hummocks, one sees the 
fallen trunks of large decayed trees lying scattered on the 
ground in all directions ; these are very inviting to step on, 
when one imagines he is in danger of sinking up to the arm- 
pits in a swamp hole. Beware, however, I would say to the 
inexperienced and incautious stranger, how you tread on 
these fallen trunks ; try them with your foot gently, and see 
if they are sound ; many of them are rotten and hollow, and 
some of them contain dry lodging for a numerous and thriv- 
ing colony of moccasins or rattlesnakes, a single puncture 
from the venomous tooth of one of which would make you 
grievously rue your reckless intrusion on their domestic pri- 
vacy. 

Snakes of a great many different varieties are very nume- 
rous in Florida. During the winter they remain in their 
holes in a torpid state, seldom making their appearance for 
two or three months during that season ; but in spring and 
summer I never went out to take a walk without seeing a 
number of them. The rattlesnake, adder, and moccasin, are 



112 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

three different species found tliere, whose bite is exceedingly 
dangerous, and, in many cases, fatal ; but they all luckily 
possess a very quick sense of hearing, and generally contrive 
to get out of the way before they are trcd upon. I never 
heard of a single person being bitten while we lay there, 
thouofh in summer we seldom went into the woods without 
wearing a pair of very strong boots, as a protection against 
a chance bite. These boots came up to the knees, and were 
worn over the pantaloons. 

Alhgators are numerous in the ponds and rivers of Florida, 
and may often be seen floating with the stream like the 
trunk of a tree, while watching for their prey, on the surface 
of the Hillsbro' river, close to the garrison at Tampa Bay. 
One of the soldiers who caught a young one, brought it to 
the garrison, designing to rear it as a pet, but as it gave no 
signs of profiting by the opportunities of improvement 
afforded it, utterly despising the soothing system, and ex- 
hibiting in the most undisguised manner the natural 
depravity and apparently incorrigibly vicious propensities of 
the alligator family, by snapping at dogs, children, and all 
who came near it, he was forced to destroy it as a 
nuisance. 

Opossums, racoons, squirrels, and rabbits, were found in 
the woods round the garrison, and a great variety of the 
feathered tribes frequented its vicinity, among which were 
pelicans, cranes, ducks, didappers, partridg-es, pigeons, par- 
roquets, vultures, and a host of others. Among the small 
birds I observed several species of the humming-bird, the 
blue-jay, the scarlet oriole, the redbreast, the woodpecker, 
the whip-poor-will, with that glorious bird of inimitable 
song, the mocking-bird. It commences to sing about the 
beginning of the month of March, and continues to the 
month of June. The celebrated ornithologist, Wilson, has 



TURTLE AND OYSTERS. 113 

given a description of this bird, whicli I had read, and could 
scarcely help thinking must have been rather too highly 
coloured and laudatory, until I had heard a few of its extra- 
ordinary performances, when I freely admitted its truth. Its 
song, to which I have often listened on a still and clear moon- 
light night, for that is the time in which it warbles its most 
melodious strains, is indescribably sweet. It is the only real 
good singing bird in America ; but I would prefer it to all 
the linnets, larks, thrushes, and blackbirds of the old world. 

The lagoon-like bays and creeks on the coast of Florida 
abound with many excellent varieties of fish, and turtle are 
very numerous and easily caught. We often had turtle 
soup at Tampa Bay, as turtle could be bought at two or 
three cents a pound. A species of land tortoise called a 
gopher, which burrows in the sand, is obtained in the woods 
by digging them out of their burrows with a spade ; this 
made a very delicious soup, which some preferred to turtle. 
There is an excellent oyster-bed on a sand bank in the bay, 
about six miles from the garrison ; and occasionally a few of 
the men, having obtained the permission of the Quarter- 
Master, would take the barge and go down for a supply of 
oysters. Going down at low water, it was no hard task to 
collect as many oysters as the whole of the two companies 
could consume ; nearly all parts of the coast of Florida 
furnish these excellent shell-fish in inexhaustible quanti- 
ties. 

I had been about six months in Tampa Bay, when a 
vacancy happening to occur, through the discharge of a 
corporal, I was appointed in his place. I could easily per- 
ceive, before I had been long in the service, that a corporal 
or Serjeant held no very enviable position ; that his duties 
were ill-defined, and the system of discipline loose and un- 
8atisfac>tory. On this account I felt no satisfaction at ray 



Ill ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

promotion ; besides I had no adequate motive for submitting 
to the increased trouble and responsibihty, as I had no in- 
tention of remaining long in the service. There were many- 
things transacted of which I strongly disapproved, and I did 
not like the idea of sacrificing my individuality and con- 
scientious opposition to these, by accepting this office. 
Owing to these rather peculiar views of mine, I would most 
decidedly have declined the distinction, had the opportunity 
occurred ; but I was not aware of the circumstance of my 
havinof been recommended for the office until after I had 
been appointed, so that I had not even the chance of refusal. 
'Not considering myself, therefore, bound to a subservient 
silence, seeing that I had not been a voluntary acceptant of 
the office, I continued to disburden myself occasionally by 
strictures and remarks, which I have no doubt must have 
appeared excessively ungrateful to several of my superiors. 
I have always been rather partial to opposition. 

The expected war with Mexico became a very engrossing 
topic while we lay at Tampa Bay, in the summer of 1846, 
especially after the news arrived of General Taylor's first 
battle on the Rio Grande. The mail, which was carried 
through by a man on horseback from Augustine, a town on 
the seacoast, about a hundred miles distant, arrived only 
once a fortnight. Sometimes, on account of the flooded 
state of the rivers, which had all to be forded, as there are 
no bridges in Florida, it did not arrive until several days 
after its time ; on such occasions its arrival, an event at any 
time, caused the most intense excitement and eager expecta- 
tion, our officers on those occasions frequently walking down 
to the post-office, and waiting for their own letters and 
papers. On the day on which the news of General Taylor's 
victory at Palo AJto ard Resaca de la Palma arrived, one 
of our officers having torn the envelo2)e of a newspaper and 



A MILITARY DEBATING SOCIETY. 11£ 

read a paragraph or two, suddenly took off bis cap, threw 
it up in the air, and began to huzza and caper, in the bciglit 
of his exuhation, much to the astonishment of the spectators, 
until he explained that General Taylor had gained a victory. ' 
As for the soldiers, I believe they were all very glad that, as 
there had been a battle fought. General Taylor had won it ; 
but there was very little enthusiasm, I must say, at the 
reception of the news. All seemed to feel a presentiment 
of those " coming events" that " cast their shadows before ;" 
the Rubicon was passed, and the present victory we felt to 
be the precursor of a campaign that would leave the bones 
of many a gallant fellow rotting in the soil of Mexico. As 
for the oflficer here alluded to, he was shot dead in the vici- 
nity of the city of Mexico ; had he seen the fate that awaited 
him, it would probably have moderated his transports at the 
news of the first battle. 

As a means of passing the time which hung rather heavily 
on our hands at Tampa Bay, a debating society was formed 
in the company to which I belonged. The orderly sergeant 
of the company, a young man named Beebe, belonging to 
the State of New York, gave his aid in its formation by 
becoming an active member himself, and procuring the use 
of a large room for the purpose of holding the meetings. 
The rules adopted for the government of the society were 
few and simple, and any soldier, by paying a small stated 
sum as a subscription for the current expenses, &c., and 
reading and subscribing to the regulations of the society, 
kept by the secretary, might become a member. Out of 
one hundred and twenty men in the two companies stationed 
here, only about a dozen joined the society. The meetings 
were held once a w^eek, the hours being from seven until 
nine" o'clock on Friday evening : they were open to all who 
chose to attend, the room being always well filled ; and if 



116 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

they added no great amount to the valuable, though rather 
unwieldy and unclassified, stock of materials called useful 
knowledge, they at all events contributed considerably to 
' the stock of amusement. These meetings were conducted 
with the customary decorum of similar societies in civil life ; 
a president, a treasurer, and a secretary, were elected for a 
month at a time ; these formed a committee, and regulat- 
ed the affairs of the society. The president gave out the 
subject for the ensuing week's discussion, and appointed the 
member whose turn it was to open the discussion by a short 
essay on the question to be discussed, at the close of each 
night's proceedings. The essay Avas either read or spoken, 
at the option of the party delivering it. 

Wlien it was first proposed, believing that it could do no 
harm if it did no good, at the solicitations of several of its 
projectors, I agreed to join it. Among them were several 
rather clever young men, possessing a good deal of general 
information, mingled a little too much, perhaps, with that 
sort of consequential air of self-conceit, too often engendered 
by the debating society system. They had all belonged to 
debating societies in various parts of the Union. Amongst 
these, Benthall, an American, had belonged to one in his 
native city, Philadelphia ; Williams and Vanduzer, Ameri- 
cans, to one in Boston ; and Beebe, to one in some town in 
the State of New York. These four were Americans, pos- 
sessed of a good deal of natural acuteness, along with a good 
education, and considerable information. Davis and Nutt 
were Englishmen ; Donahoe, Lonergan, Madden, and one or 
two more, were from the green isle ; while I was the solo 
representative of the land o'cakes. 

The question proposed, as the subject of the first night's 
discussion, was as follows : " Whether is love or anger the 
more powerful passion ?" I had been appointed by the pre- 



AN ORATOR LOST. 11 7 

ddent to open tlie discussion by the introductory essay, wliich 
[ had been at considerable pains in arranging, as I wished 
to deliver it without the assistance of notes, calculating of 
course on producing an effect by this studied carelessness of 
manner. The vanity of wishing to be considered wise, is not 
wholly confined to young men of learning ; and the ambition 
of being thought a distinguished orator, or a clever chopper 
of logic, may sometimes be found lurking beneath the 
worsted epaulette of the soldier, as well as under the digni- 
fied and patrician toga of the bar or the pulpit. 

In the meantime, a trifling misadventure came very near 
turning my anticipated triumph into a complete disgrace. 
That no lack of exertion on my part should be the cause of 
failure, if the fates had decreed adversely to my success, I 
resolved on practising a recitation of my essay in the woods. 
Accordingly, on the afternoon of the day appointed for the 
debate, sallying out with a rifle on my shoulder, I soon 
reached a convenient spot, and thoroughly repeated my exer- 
cise, having done which I pursued my way still farther into 
the woods, until warned by the lengthening shades of the 
tall pines that evening was rapidly approaching. It only 
wanted about an hour of sunset when I began to plod my 
way homeward to the Fort. While walking leisurely along, 
I observed a small blue bird, about the size of a sparrow, 
sitting on a twig that overhung the path. In a moment of 
tlioughtlessness I stopped and took aim at it with my rifle ; 
I was about seventy or eighty yards from it, the point blank 
range of my piece, which carried one hundred and twenty 
to the pound. As I had not practised much with the rifle 
then, I could not have expected to hit at that distance ; I 
drew the trigger, however, and the bird dropped from tlio 
branch. I looked with remorse on its mangled and torn 
c<^)rpse, and felt that I had committed an unhallowed viola 



118 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

tion of tlie quiet sanctity of tlie wilderness, that seemed ti 
call out for vengeance. Angry at myself for doing thai 
which I had frequently reprobated in others, and desirous of 
leaving those frowning pines, which one might also fanc} 
were accusing, though silent, witnesses of this needles? 
slaughter, I turned into another path, which I thought led 
by a shorter way into the Fort. After walking about two 
miles, I found that I had overrated my knowledge of that 
part of the country, and that I was completely at fault. To 
go back to where I had left the main road would have been 
the most certain way to correct my error ; but it would have 
delayed me considerably, and I should have nearly seven 
miles to walk if I retraced my steps. Besides, by so doing, 
I might be too late for the meeting, and I felt that if I failed 
to make my appearance, my absence might be construed 
into a want of confidence in my own ability. I therefore re- 
solved upon taking a straight line for the highway through 
the bushes, by which I hoped to reduce the distance to about 
two miles. I started on this resolution, and for the first mile 
or so I got on very well, the ground being firm, and the 
bushes not too thick. But at last difliculties began to mul- 
tiply, in the shape of thorny vines, that sometimes tripped 
my feet, and at others, enveloped my whole body in their 
meshes, tearing my clothes and skin. At other times I got 
up to the middle in a swamp, when I was forced to go back 
and make a circuit to avoid it. At last I was nearly losing 
both hope and patience, night was fast closing around, and I 
was beginning to think I should have to pass the night in 
the woods. I am not very superstitious, I believe ; but the 
recollection of the bird so wantonly killed, haunted my me- 
mory just at that moment ; like Coleridge's " Ancient Mari- 
ner," I had done " a hellish thing," in slaying that innocent 
bird. Was this entanglement the penance inflicted by the 



MILITARY AND CIVIL ELOQUExVCE. HO 

spirit of the woods ? Tlie certain ridicule of my comrades 
if I should not be at the meeting, again occurring to my 
mind, I was prompted to make another vigorous effort ; and 
after toiling for about half an hour, I reached the highway, 
about half a mile from the Fort, with no more injury than 
torn and soiled clothes, and a few deep scratches from the 
prickly vines, across my face and hands. Glad to find it was 
no worse, I resumed my journey, and was home in time 
enough to be able to change my clothes, wash, and take 
some refreshment before making my appearance at the meet- 
ing, where I managed to acquit myself tolerably well to my 
own satisfaction, as well as that of my friends. 

Our society existed about three months, a longer period 
than I had calculated on its continuance at its fij'st com- 
mencement, and I believe that but for the choice of a sub- 
ject for discussion of a rather injudicious nature, at least 
considering that the society merely existed by sufferance, it 
might have continued to flourish while we remained in that 
garrison. With a good deal of the absurd and ridiculous, 
there was occasionally a very fair display of talent and abi- 
lity at these debates. The lawyer and the schoolmaster of the 
village, who attended one evening, attracted by curiosity and 
the fame of the discussions, were heard to express their as- 
tonishment and gratification at the skill which some of the 
members displayed in handling the topic of the evening. I 
am much mistaken if I have not seen more indifferent spe- 
cimens of eloquence in the newspaper columns, as emana- 
tions of the legislative wisdom of the greatest nation in ex- 
istence, than some of the speeches I have heard delivered in 
that society ; and no mighty encomium either, the reader 
will perhaps think, if he has been in the habit of perusing 
one of the Washington daily or tri-weekly papers. The 
question wliich was commonly supposed to have extinguished 



120 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

our society was to the following effect, " Whether does th^ 
civil or military life offer the highest rewards and incentives 
to an honourable ambition ?" This question was propounded 
by Theoretical Davis, as Nutt called him, who was anxious 
to produce several very important facts bearing on the sub- 
ject, which I am afraid are now lost to the world for ever. 
Whether the commanding officer had heard the subject pro- 
posed for discussion, and considered that it trenched on 
rather dangerous ground, we never correctly ascertained, 
though such was the current opinion. This much is certain, 
that a few days before our next meeting, he issued an order 
signifying his disapproval of these societies, as being con- 
trary to the spirit of the regulations of the service ; so, of 
course, there was no more to be said on the subject. A meet- 
ing of the members was called one evening for the purpose 
of deciding upon the best means of disposing of the surplus 
funds in the hands of the' treasurer, when it was proposed, 
and carried without a dissenting voice, that as much whis- 
key as the money would procure, should be furnished and 
produced on the table forthwith. This was done accordingly, 
and an exceedingly convivial evening was the result of this 
spirited motion. 



CHAPTER X. 

General Scott— The Coast of Mexico — Ajollj Captain — A Gale of 
Wind — ^The River — Tanipieo. 

About the beginning of October, 1846, we received a large 
draft of recruits from Governor's Island, who were distributed 
between the two companies lying at Tampa Bay, increasing 
each to about eighty-six men ; this we considered very like a 
hint to prepare for a move to Mexico. General Scott, at the 
commencement of the war with Mexico, had been accused 
of a want of skill, courage, and patriotism, by a large portion 
of the captain Bobadil editors of the " great nation." This 
abuse he had received principally, I believe, in consequence 
of declining to adopt the very simple and cheap method 
i-ecommended by the said Bobadils ; which was to march 
through every town in Mexico with a regiment of five 
hundred men, and wind up with taking deliberate possession 
of the halls of the Montezumas, where he should remain 
until the Mexicans were inclined to come to terms. Genei-al 
Scott, wlio knew how to "bide his time," had waited 
patiently, quietly digesting the hasty plate of soup, the bare 
mention of which had caused so much commotion among 
people of weak stomachs throughout the country generally. 
At last the President and his advisers, seeing no prospect of 
a speedy and successful issue to the war without putting his 
military talents into requisition, which they were quite 
willing to discover, or acknowledge, as long as they stood in 
need of them, began to think of employing him. The plan 

6 



122 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIEE IN MEXICO. 

of marclimg- tlirougli the country ivitli five hundred men 
was now rarely spoken of, and the expedition preparing at 
the suggestion of General Scott, was being fitted out on a 
scale somewhat commensurate wdth the importance of the 
undertaking contemplated ; which was generally understood 
to be the reduction of Vera Cruz, and a subsequent march to 
the gates of the city of Mexico. 

On the 1 0th of December arrived the order which we had 
been long expecting ; we were to be in readiness for imme- 
diate embarkation, being required to join the present expedi- 
tion fitting out for the reduction of Vera Cruz. Our place 
at Tampa Bay, which, on account of the Indians in its 
neighbourhood, could not be left wholly defenceless, was to 
be supplied by a body of Volunteers raised in Florida for 
the purpose, until the war in Mexico should cease. So 
desirous were we of escaping from the dull monotony of this 
place, of which we were exceedingly tired, that I believe 
many heard the orders to prepare for leaving it with much 
satisfaction. But the married men, whose wives and families 
were all to be left behind, were looking very dull ; and as for 
the wife of our Lieutenant, who had four small children, she 
cried for a whole day, it was said, when the order came. 
Poor woman ! if she could have foreseen that her husband 
was to fall mortally wounded, pierced in the body with three 
musket-balls, at the battle of Churubusco, about nine months 
after receiving that order, she would have cried still more 
bitterly. The wives and families of officers and soldiers 
were allowed by government to remain in the quarters they 
occupied when their husbands left ; they were also furnished 
with rations until the conclusion of the war, when they were 
to be forwarded to those garrisons to which their husbands 
were sent. 

About a fortnight after we had received the order to be 



A MILD FORM OF INSANITY. 123 

in readiness, a mercliant brig, called the John Potter^ arrived 
to take us to Tampico, a port about two hundred miles east 
of Vera Cruz, where the forces destined for General Scott's 
expedition were to be concentrated. We embarked on the 
1st January, 1847, and on the morning of the 2nd we set 
sail, and having a fair wind, soon lost sight of the low-lying, 
sandy coast of Florida. We found our accommodation in 
the John Potter rather limited, there being nearly two 
hundred men on board a vessel not quite three hundred tons 
burden ; but one comfort was that we were spared the 
annoyance which is usually caused in a crowded vessel by 
women and children, "there not being a single stick of a 
petticoat on board,'' as some one remarked. My comrade, 
Nutt, and two or three more of the soldiers, who had been 
sailors at a former period of their lives, were engaged, with 
the permission of our commanding officer, to help to work 
the vessel, which had left Charleston short of hands. One of 
the crew had also become partially insane since he had been 
shipped there, and they could not trust him to do much 
work. He had just been discharged from hospital at 
Charleston when he came on board, and his health had not 
been firmly established, it was supposed, as he had a pallid 
and dejected sort of look. His insanity was of a mild form, 
and he was perfectly quiet ; but he insisted that the ship 
swarmed with a crew of horrible-looking old witches, num- 
bers of whom he saw perched upon the rigging, and who 
he constantly affirmed would lead the vessel into difficulty. 
Nothing could persuade him that the John Potter was not a 
doomed craft, that would never leave the gulf; and though 
he sometimes took a turn at the wheel, steering as well as 
the others, yet he kept always eyeing the rigging with a 
troubled and suspicious glance. One of our recruits who 
had joined with the late draft in Tampa Bay, had also 



124 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 



V 



become insane a few weeks after he joined ; lie was named 
Hogg, and belonged to the north of Ireland. He had been 
in hospital for some time previous to our embarkation, but 
the surgeon was of opinion that he was only acting the 
character for the purpose of procuring his discharge, and he 
was placed in charge of a sentry when we went on board. 
One day, when the sentry having him in charge had his 
attention attracted elsewhere, Hogg, having climbed over the 
ship's side, got into the forechains, and stripping off his 
clothes, jumped into the water. The vessel was going at the 
rate of three or four knots at the time, and before we could 
get her hove-to, and a boat lowered, he had gone nearly a 
mile astern, and had he not been a very good swimmer, he 
must have been drowned. As sharks were numerous in 
those seas, and as there had been one reported alongside 
several times since we sailed, few questioned the fact of the 
poor fellow's insanity after that occurrence, and shortly after 
our arrival at Tampico he was discharged. 

On the morning of the twelfth, after a pleasant voyage of 
only ten days' duration, the coast of Mexico was distinctly in 
view. We had the cable all on deck, and considering the 
voyage ended, we were congratulating each other upon the 
short and withal pleasant trip we had made. But we were 
rather premature, as it fell out, and our voyage was not to be 
over so soon as we anticipated. It is a very good old saw, 
the truth of which we fully experienced on this occasion, 
that " We should not halloo till we are out of the wood." 

We had the clear bold outline of the lofty inland range of 
mountains, which the coast of Mexico there presents, in view 
for the remainder of the day ; and at sunset we were said to 
be within twenty miles or so of anchorage. The first mate, 
who was an excellent sailor, and generally considered by the 
crew and soldiers to be the most competent of any on board, 



A JOLLY SKIPPER. 12£ 

was very anxious that we should run into anchorage that 
nigh*. He was of opinion that, as we had good moonlight, 
and the wind light and answerable, we should run in during 
the night, and drop anchor a few miles from the mouth 
of the Panuco, when we would be ready for the steamer in 
the morning, which would tow us over the bar, and up the 
river to Tampico. But unfortunately the captain happened 
to differ in opinion with him, or rather, he had no very 
decided opinion upon the matter, it being said that he com- 
plied with the wishes of some of our officers, who thought 
there was danger in going in without good daylight. The 
captain, therefore, resolved upon tacking off and on during 
the night, and taking his chance of a change of wind in the 
shape of one of those violent gales called northers, which 
are prevalent at that season, and which was the contingency 
so much dreaded by the mate from former experience on 
that coast. It was also said that the captain had a capital 
stock of liquors on board, which he wished to dispose of 
before entering port ; and to judge from the rubicund jollity 
of his countenance, through which his half-shut blue eyes 
twinkled with the peculiar silly-looking, though good- 
humoured l^er of the toper, he must have been a staunch 
anti-teetotaller. During the whole of the voyage, up to the 
present time, he had seldom made his appearance upon deck, 
having left the sailing of the vessel wholly to the first mate, 
and being solely occupied meanwhile in carousing, and 
drinking bumpers to the success of the expedition, along 
with our officers, towards whom he apparently exercised 
an excess of hospitality that, under existing circumstances, 
might have been much better dispensed with. If our 
officers, as has been alleged, really influenced the decisions of 
the captain, causing him to keep his vessel off until morning, 
in place of leaving the matter in the hands of the mate, 



126 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

tlieir ignorant and presumptuous interference was pretty 
severely punished by the result. 

Having stood off and on, as it is called in sea phrase, by 
tacking at short intervals during the night, next morning 
we found with the wind we had, we could run in to an 
offing in four or five hours. The appearance of the morning 
was rather suspicious, being slightly cloudy and showery, 
but tlie breeze was in our favour, and we went steadily along 
at the rate of six or seven knots an hour, expecting to be in 
the river by noon. At eleven o'clock we were within a 
couple of miles of the anchorage, and the pilot coming off to 
board us was only about half a mile from our bows, when a 
heavy, dark-looking cloud which had been gathering ahead of 
us for the previous ten minutes, began to sprinkle the deck 
with a few large drops. At the same time the whistling and 
hissing sounds, amongst the running gear and shrouds, 
changing finally into the wild roar of the hurricane, as the 
vessel careened over nearly on her beam ends, showed that 
there was no time to be lost ; the gale was on us, and 
our only chance was to " cut and run," as the sailors term it. 
Fortunately the storm had not come on unobserved, a 
number of the sails had been taken in previous to this, and 
as the gale came on, the vessel was speedily put about, and 
bounding with astonishing velocity from the harbour. As 
for the pilot he was close in shore, having run for the nearest 
point on the first burst of the gale. The captain, who, to do 
him justice, was a very good sailor when he was roused, and 
who now probably saw his error, and regretted that he had 
not taken the mate's advice on the previous evening, 
beliaved with a great deal of energy and decision ; both he 
and the mate showing by their example how a sailor 
can and ought to work in an emergency like the present. 
Lideed but for the extraordinarv exertions of the ojQScers and 



A " NORTHER." 127 

sailors composing tlie crew, I Lelie\'e we slioiild have been 
driven on the sands ; and some days afterwards, when the 
gale had moderated, the captain confessed that we had a 
very narrow escape. In the meantime, under close-reefed 
topsails w^e w^ere scudding through the water with fearful 
velocity, far more anxious now to get out from land, than we 
had been a few hours ago to approach it. For several hours 
the colour of the water warned us of our close proximity to 
the shoal sandy coast, fatal to so many gallant vessels, and 
it was evening before we were considered out of any imme- 
diate danger. The captain and mate were heard to agree 
while conversing together on the subject, that but for 
the superior qualities of the John Potter in sailing close to 
the wind, w^e should have been driven on a lee shore in spite 
of the best seamanship in the world. It was a knowledge 
of the frequency of these north gales at that season of the 
year, and the danger of being caught by one upon a lee 
shore, that made the mate wish to run in on the previous 
night. Had the captain taken his advice and done so, 
we should have been over the bar, and in the river at 
anchor, several hours before the gale came on before which 
we were now driving ; but there was no use for unavailing 
regrets. During the whole morning's proceedings, the sailor 
who was wrong in his head, sat perched on the point of the 
bowsprit with his legs crossed, looking up at the rigging, 
and in towards the deck of the vessel. Amidst all the rain 
and wind, and the bustle of putting the ship about, he never 
stirred from his position ; towards evening one of the men 
went out, and coaxed him to come down. " I'm blest if I 
know what to make of that unlucky beggar, and his strange 
lingo about witches and such like," said an old tar, "but if 
so be as how there is witches bringing ill luck on the vessel, 
it must be him they follow^, for no one else sees them but 



128 ADVENTURES OF A SOLMER IN MEXICO. 

him. At all events, if I wa» tlie skipper, the first day 1 
went into port, would be the last day the unlucky beggar 
would ever put a foot on the John Fotterh deck." 

Steadily and without intermission for the next three days 
the cold bitter north blast continued to blow. I have never 
seen a gale last so long with such continuous and unmiti- 
gated fury. We had one comfort, however^ in the midst of 
our misfortunes ; this was found in the admirable qualities 
and excellent behaviour of the John Potter ; these consti- 
tuted a theme of universal praise, " She was not a very 
handsome built craft wasn^t the John Potter^'^ one of the old 
tars remarked, the same old fellow who made the remarks 
about witches, but blest if he ever seed a craft that seemed to 
understand what you wanted of her,, or would do it more 
cheerfully than this same craft. " Why, bless your soul," he 
continued, " half of your fine Baltimore clippers would have 
been lying on the sands if they had been in our place the 
other morning ; give me the craft that never misses in stays, 
and lies well to the wind." " Be the blessed bird of heaven ! 
if she doesn't watch the waves coming and ride on the top 
of them like a duck," said Dennis Mulloney, " Yaw, dat is- 
vat you call a wasser duck," said a phlegmatic-looking Dutch- 
man, as the combing of a huge wave broke over the bulwarks 
to windward, giving the party a tolerable specimen of the 
douche, and thoroughly drenching their clothes from head to 
foot. While the gale continued very few of the men stayed 
upon deck, and as the vessel pitched a good deal, they with 
fevf exceptions lay in their berths nearly all the time it last- 
ed, a period of nearly three days, during which time of 
course we never attempted cooking. With some of my com- 
rades I managed to crawl upon deck, now and then, to have 
a look at the weather, and I shall not soon forget the appear- 
ance of the sea upon these occasions. The huge black inkj 



8H0KT COMMONS. 129 

looking masses of water, with their superb crests of snow- 
white foam, as they came rolling on, presented a spectacle 
at once grand, magnificent, and appalling. Three or four of 
these huge waves bounded the visible horizon, as the drifting 
spray prevented us from seeing more than two or three hun- 
dred yards on each side of the vessel. 

At length the gale having fairly exhausted its fury, we 
began to entertain hopes of speedily regaining the port from 
which we had been so suddenly and unceremoniously driven. 
But our hopes were somewhat qualified by the intelligence 
that we would be fortunate if we could reach Tampico within 
a week, while our provisions would be wholly consumed in 
three or four days, unless we were put on short allowance. 
The reason of our provisions being short, was owing to the 
commissariat stores at Tampa Bay being nearly exhausted 
when the John Potter arrived. Had we waited for a supply 
from New Orleans, we might have been detained eight or ten 
days, and the officer in command, afraid of appearing too 
cautious, resolved upon taking the responsibility of proceed- 
ing with what we had. K we had been so fortunate as to 
get in before encountering this gale, we should have had 
enough, but it is extremely injudicious, to say the least of it, 
to send troops to sea, with just sufficient provisions to last, in 
the event of a fortunate voyage. In consequence of the short- 
ness of provisions, we were accordingly supplied with eight 
ounces of biscuit a day, instead of a pound, as formerly. 
This was no great hardship, but as the wind died away, and 
we were lying idly becalmed for two or three days, serious 
apprehensions began to be felt, lest we should soon have 
nothing at all to eat. Besides, if we did not get the wind in 
our favour soon, the probabilit}' was that we should be caught 
by another gale, as at that period of the year, it was seldom 
that two or three weeks elapsed without one of these danger- 

6^ 



130 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

ous visitors. In this latter event our case would be hopeless 
indeed, unless we should have the good luck to fall in with 
some ship who might give us some assistance. One of our 
officers had brought a dozen hams from Tampa Bay ; these 
were stowed down in the hold, and intended as a valuable 
reinforcement to the larder of the officers' regimental mess at 
Tampico. But some of the men having discovered the na- 
ture of the contents of the box in which they were packed, 
and acting upon the axiom that in cases of general emer- 
gency, private property may be lawfully seized, and appro- 
priated for the general good, they contrived to make a very 
expeditious clearance of these comestibles. However, to pre- 
serve appearances, and prevent any unpleasant feelings on the 
subject while on board, they had the box made up in weight, 
by packing a sufficient quantity of ballast among the straw, 
in place of the hams ; and having nailed on the lid, the 
damage was not discovered until the box was opened, after 
we went ashore. 

Our short allowance had continued for five or six days, 
during which I cannot say that I suffered any inconvenience 
from hunger, though, like the rest of my companions, feeling 
sometimes a slight degree of anxiety as to our future pros- 
pects ; but before being reduced quite to the starvation point, 
we fortunately met with assistance. On the morning of the 
20th, we descried a steamer to leeward, and on making sail 
for it, and hoisting the American flag half mast, as a signal 
that we required assistance, we soon had the satisfaction of 
seeing that she had observed it, and was directing her course 
towards us. On her nearing us we found that she was a large 
propeller, in the employment of Government, called the Mas- 
sachusetts. She was on her way to the Rio Grande, with 
dispatches for General Scott, who was there at that time, and 
consequently could not tow us into Tampico, as our com- 



A. RUNNING COMMENTARY. 131 

manding officer requested, but offered to supply us with pro- 
visions. This offer we were very glad to accept, so coming 
alongside, she gave us twenty barrels of biscuit, and a few 
barrels of pork ; and her captain bidding us good bye, and 
wishing us " better luck next time," she was soon on her 
course, and in a few hours out of sight. 

Although disappointed in getting towed into the river, we 
were now comparatively independent to what we had been a 
few hours previous, having provisions enough to last for 
several weeks on board, in case of emergency ; and the wind, 
though light, continuing to blow steadily in our favour, in a 
few days after this event we were again in sight of, and 
rapidly nearing the harbour. When within about ten miles 
of the mouth of the river, the pilot came on board ; this time 
he came in a six oared boat, rowed by Mexicans. These 
were the first Mexicans we had seen, fine tall stout looking 
fellows they were, but as we afterwards found considerably 
above the average of their countrymen in height and physi- 
cal condition. As we expected to meet some of their 
countrymen soon, in the "tug of war," of course their 
personal appearance excited considerable interest, and re- 
mark. " By the hokey," said Mick Ryan, " I don't see that 
thim Mexicans is the weeny yaller atomies they do be telling 
us, afther all." " Faith an it's no lie for you, Micky, anyhow, 
barrin the ignorant crathurs don't know the beauties of the 
shillelah, they look like boys that could empty a fair in less 
than no time, and a fistful ov minutes to spare ; but with the 
help ov the blessed Vargin, we'll soon see how they behave 
in front ov their betthers," responded Paddy Byrne. " By 
my conscience, Geordie, they're a strong, supple, treacherous 
looking set of deevils ; od gin they hae a trifle of courage, 
wi' the defensible natui-e o' their kintra, an their ain d — d 
deem ate to back them, I'm thinking we may consider 



132 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER 5N MEXICO. 

ourselves in a pretty considerable bit of a fix, as Jonathan 
says," remarked Tom Mathieson. In the meantime, the 
Mexicans had come on board, and were jabbering and 
laughing to one another in their own language, in the most 
free and easy manner apparently, and making use of their 
two or three English words, while offering to shake hands 
with any of our men who approached. But none of our 
men could talk Spanish, and their English consisted merely 
of a few of those epithets, and phrases, " not calculated for 
ears polite," the universal introduction to the English lan- 
guage, at those foreign ports, where the schoolmaster abroad 
is the sailor or the soldier. The pilot, a little withered 
looking old fellow, and a true CastilUano, as he repeatedly 
endeavoured to make us comprehend, by repeating the term, 
and pointing to himself at the same time, had now taken 
charge of the vessel. The morning was delightfully clear, 
and we had a beautiful view of the romantic scenery of the 
wooded mountain range, that bounds the prospect round 
the bay of Tarapico. The shore round the bay is low 
and sandy, and covered with groups of cactuses, and other 
thorny shrubs ; but a shbrt distance inland the soil is rich, 
and clothed with vegetation of a more valuable and pleasing 
character, abounding in good natural grass, and a variety of 
wild fruits and flowers. About ten o'clock on the morning 
of the 25th we dropt anchor about two or three miles from 
the mouth of the river, and about an hour after a steamer 
arrived to tow us in. 

The entrance to the river Panuco is very difficult to sailing 
vessels, being obstructed by a dangerous sandbar at its 
mouth, and at the time we entered, the skeletons of two 
large craft, and several smaller ones, bedded in tie sands at 
the entrance, gave significant warning to the careless naviga- 
tor. It is only at particular favourable conjunctions of wind 



RIVER SCENERY. 133 

and tide, tliat a pilot will risk bringing a sailing vessel over, 
but the necessity of waiting for a fair wind was at the present 
time obviated in the case of American vessels, by the 
government having stationed steam-tugs there, to take 
vessels over the bar, and up and down the river. We were 
towed over the bar by the steam-tug, without any difficulty, 
but the tide not answering to go up to the town of Tampico, 
which is about ten or twelve miles up the river, we again let 
go our anchor. Our vessel was now immediately surrounded 
by a whole fleet of canoes, with fruits and vegetables for 
sale, which they sold exceedingly cheap ; and finding plenty 
of eager purchasers among our men, their stock of oranges, 
pine-apples, plantains, bananas, etc., was speedily disposed 
of. Towards evening, the tide serving, the steam-tug arrived 
to take us up to Tampico. As we sailed up the river, which 
here seems a sort of miniature Mississippi, being a dull, 
broad, coflfee-coloured stream with a strong current, its 
banks clothed with luxuriant vegetation, and its muddy line 
of water-mark covered with a debris of the trunks of trees, 
of the genus snag^ the interesting features of the landscape 
were gazed at with intense curiosity. The palmetto-thatched 
hut, the tall cocoa-nut tree, with its slender and graceful 
trunk, and its huge fan-like leaves, relieved so distinctly by 
the deep azure of the blue sky ; the tropical looking banana 
with its immense bunches of delicious fruit ; the orange trees 
-with their fruits of golden hue, gleaming so temptingly 
through the deep dark green of their thick foliage ; all these 
in turn elicited our admiration and excited our curiosity. 
The left bank of the river especially attracted our attention : 
the mountains which there ascend gradually from within a 
shwt distance of the river are very lofty, and covered to 
their summits with trees, and evergreen vegetation of every 
varied and conti-asting shade and hue ; and each new turn 



rB4 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

of the serpentining river presented some fresh combination, 
from the changed point of view ; producing the most delight- 
ful panoramic variation of scenery imaginable. 

This town of Tampico has a very pleasing and lively 
appearance viewed from the river, the houses and stores 
facing which are painted red or white ; nearly all have 
porticos in front, supporting balconies or verandas, and the 
open space between them and the river is wide and well 
paved. Sloping up from the wharf is the market place, 
which, like all Mexican markets, presents a very busy and 
animated picture ; game, fish, fruit, and vegetables were the 
principal commodities in the market on the next morning 
after our arrival, and these were all remarkably cheap, a 
brace of wild ducks being sold for a real (about sixpence), and 
other articles in proportion. The town is principally built 
on a hill which has a gradual ascent for about half a mile 
along the right bank of the river ; the highest part of it is 
near the house of the British Consul. A little way above, 
the hill ends in a precipitous bluflP, from which there is an 
excellent view of the river and surrounding country. We 
had no sooner dropped anchor in the stream, than we were 
boarded by several boatloads of men belonging to those 
companies of our regiment from whom we had been sepa- 
rated on leaving Pensacola. They congratulated us warmly 
on our safe arrival, the current report having been for some 
days previous, that the John Potter had been wrecked, and 
all hands lost. They told us they had been lying in camp 
in the suburbs of the town for the last month ; that about a 
third of them had the fever and ague ; that there were five 
or six thousand troops in the town, and in a few days as 
many more were expected: that tobacco was sold for a 
dollar a poimd, and a poisonous description of liquor, under 
the denomination of brandy, for a shilling a glass ; and a few 



ARRIVAL AT CAMP. 135 

more items of that sort, comprising the current gossip of tho 
camp. 

It was near sunset when we dropped anchor, so we had to 
content ourselves for another night on board ; but boats came 
alongside bringing their welcome supplies of fresh bread, 
cheese, fruits, and other tempting luxuries ; and there were 
few on board the John Potter who did not indulge in at 
least one ample meal as a counterpoise to the hard and 
unpalatable fare, and forced abstemiousness of the voyage. 
Early next morning a steamer came alongside and took our 
baggage, which was landed in a very expeditious manner, 
and placed in the commissary waggons waiting on the wharf 
for its reception ; after which we were all landed by the 
steamer. Having left a small guard to escort the baggage, 
we were formed into companies, and preceded by the lively 
notes of the ear-piercing fife, and the beat of martial drum, 
we marched through the principal streets of Tampico to the 
camp, which lay nearly a mile down the river. 

On arriving at the camp, after piling arms, and taking off 
our knapsacks, we were shown, by the adjutant of the regi- 
ment, the ground our companies were to occupy, and imme- 
diately proceeded to pitch our tents. This was soon done, 
and then we commenced cleaning our arms and accoutre- 
ments. The other companies stationed here before us had 
all their things in the most perfect order ; and as there were 
parades and inspections every morning, our lieutenant hoped 
we would try to uphold the credit of company I. All our 
clothes also required to be washed after our voyage, but as 
there were plenty of poor Mexican women coming to our camp 
and asking for clothes to wash, which they did very well, 
and cheap, Nutt and I got one of them to wash for us while 
we stayed there, thus saving a great deal of very disagree- 
abfe labour at a ti'ifling expense. For tho purpose of allow- 



136 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

ing us to rest a little after the hardships of our voyage, and 
also to give us an opportunity to clean our accoutrements and 
clothes, the commanding officer excused us from going to 
parade for two days after our arrival, during which time we 
contrived to get all our things into good condition. 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Town and its Population — Reinforcements — General Shields 

Bill Nutt'as Orderly — Expedition to Vera Cruz. 

I SAID the town of Tampico had a pleasing appearance when 
viewed from the river, but a closer inspection dissipates the 
favourable impression made by its first appearance. The 
streets nearest the river are composed of good substantial 
stone buildings, inhabited by the wealthiest part of the 
population ; but in the suburbs, and a number of the back 
streets, are rows of the most wretched-looking habitations, 
containing the most squalid population which the imagina- 
tion can conceive. I had seen misery in Ireland which I 
thought unsurpassable, but some of the poor wretches in the 
suburbs of Tampico, presented a squalor of appearance more 
abjectly miserable than anything I had seen even there. 
The huts of the poor are built either of mud, or bamboos, 
stuck as close together as possible, and placed upright in 
the ground ; they are covered with palmetto leaves, which 
are also interwoven with the bamboos to exclude the cold 
wind of the north gales which blow during the winter. The 
interior of these huts presents as forlorn and wretched an 
aspect as the exterior ; they are mostly destitute of furniture, 
save a few earthen pipkins used as cooking utensils, and a 
mat of grass or rushes, used as a bed. The only bed the 
bulk of the labouring population of Mexico ever think of 
sleeping upon, is a mat spread down on the floor, on which 
they sleep without ever taking off their clothes — a practice 



138 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

whicli is quite sufficient to account for the charges of dirt 
and vermin brought by most travellers against the Mexicans ; 
charges of the truth of which, while I was in Mexico, I had 
frequently too abundant proof. 

The gentry and respectable portion of the inhabitants kept 
very retired while we lay in the vicinity, many of them shut- 
ting themselves up in their houses, as if in a state of siege. 
Indeed it was no great wonder though they should be a lit- 
tle shy of the strange, wild-looking, hairy-faced savages of the 
half horse and half alligator breed, who galloped about the 
streets and plazas mounted on mules and Mexican ponies, 
and armed with sabres, bowies, and revolvers, and in every 
uncouth variety of costume peculiar to the American back- 
woodsman. The senors or caballeros, masters or gentlemen, 
the Mexicans called them when addressing them, but when 
speaking of them in their absence, it was " Malditos Volun- 
teros," which they enunciated with a bitterness of tone, that 
showed the intensity of their dislike. In fact I believe they 
had no great love for any portion of the " hereticos America- 
nos," though the volunteers seemed to be objects of their 
special detestation ; and I imagine they looked upon us all 
with similar complacency, to that which the Spaniards looked 
upon the army of France, during its usurpation of the Pe- 
ninsula. 

About a week after our arrival, a strong reinforcement 
arrived from General Taylor's army at Monterey. These 
were principally volunteers, and one regiment called the Ten- 
nessee cavalry, were a fine looking set of stout fellows, well 
clothed, armed, and mounted, at least for volunteers ; and 
they were said to have behaved very well in action. But 
they had only been raised for one year. A few months after- 
ward, when their time expired, great exertions were used to 
induce them to remain, but with no effect ; the poor fellows 



ARMY FOLLOWERB. 139 

had " seen the elephant,'* and were perfectly satisfied with 
the exhibition. A considerable number of regular troops, 
both infantry and artillery, were also withdrawn at tliis time 
from General Taylor's army for the Vera Cruz expedition, 
weakening his force exceedingly. This, it was thought, had 
suggested the idea to Santa Anna of overwhelming him by 
superior nunabers, and taking him and his whole army pri- 
soners, which resulted in the battle of Buenavista ; where the 
Mexicans, in a fair field, and with a numerical force of at least 
four to one, were so shamefully defeated. 

The town of Tampico had a bustling and animated ap- 
pearance while the troops remained in the vicinity, a band 
of music furnished by each regiment in succession playing 
in the main plaza for a few hours each evening ; and the 
streets and houses of entertainment being thronged with 
officers and soldiers. The troops received two months' pay 
while we lay here, being paid up to the 1st January ; there 
was consequently a good deal of money amongst th^ men 
for a few days. The larger portion of this soon found its 
way into the hands of the army followers, a sort of human 
vultures who followed the army all through the campaign, 
keeping hotels, called by the popular cognomens of " The 
Palo Alto House," " The Rough and Ready Restaurant," 
" American Star Hotel," &c. ; the whole stock in trade of 
said restaurants and hotels mostly consisting of a piece of 
villanously tough roasted or fried came (beef), and a few 
dollars' worth of an abominable spirituous liquor called 
aguardiente. The Mexican shop-keepers were prohibited 
from selling spirits to the soldiers under the pain of a heavy 
penalty, but these camp followers were winked at by some 
means or other, and the scoundrels had a complete monopoly 
of the sale of liquor, and were permitted to poison and 
plunder the soldiers with impunity. In most of these houses 



140 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDiSR IN MEXICO. 

gambling was incorporated with the business of selhng 
liquor, two or three professional gamblers being usually the 
joint proprietors of these low concerns, where the most 
brutal riots, frequently resulting in loss of life, were of 
frequent recurrence. It would have considerably improved 
the morale of the army if these shops had been prohibited, 
and all citizens not in the employment of government packed 
off" to the States. 

A company of theatrical performers, who had been with 
General Taylor's army in Monterey and Matamoras, came 
down with the division of troops which had just arrived, 
and were performing to good houses in town, the officers and 
soldiers crowding the theatre every night to overflowing. A 
newspaper, called the American Star^ was also published 
once a week, and sold at six cents. As it was only pur- 
chased by the army, of course its circulation must have been 
rather limited ; but it usually contained a good many items 
of army intelligence, and a considerable number were 
bought to send home to friends in the States, both by officers 
and soldiers. 

For some time after our arrival at Tampico, our regiment 
furnished an orderly to General Shields, who was selected 
by the adjutant, at guard mounting, from the men paraded 
for that duty. One day my comrade Bill Nutt having been 
selected for the office, a rather amusing occurrence happened 
to him. It appeared that Nutt, who had never seen the 
general, had taken him for a servant, as he had opened the 
door for him, and also from his wearing plain clothes, 
and his free and unassuming manners. The morning was 
cold, and he had asked Nutt to sit down at the fireside, 
sitting down himself on the oppositB side, and entering into 
conversation with him. Nutt, who laboured under a false 
impression with regard to the identity of the person he wa? 



ACTIVE OPERATIONS AT HAND. 141 

f^ iressing, had spoken his sentiments very freely on some 
ot the topics connected with the present war, condemning 
the aggressive sort of policy that seemed to actuate the 
democratic party of America. In the midst of a discussion 
on the question at issue, an officer in uniform entered 
from an adjacent apartment, and bowing to Nutt's opponent, 
who was calmly listening at the time to his views of the sub- 
ject, addressed him by the title of general. Nutt, who felt 
quite shocked at the discovery, made a hasty and unceremo- 
nious retreat into the ante-room, and though the general 
resumed the subject after the departure of his guest, he con- 
fessed that the general soon had the best of the argument, as 
he could not speak with the same freedom as before. Nutt 
often alluded afterwards to the urbanity and gentlemanlike 
manners of General Shields, allowing that a few gentlemen 
might be found among the citizens of the enlightened republic, 
and quoting him as one example, at least, that he had met 
with in his travels. 

Our troops, a large proportion of whom were raw recruits, 
were kept closely at drill while we lay in camp at Tampico, 
and by the end of February they were considered in good 
order for active operations. General Scott's arrival about 
the 20th was a signal to be ready for a move, and in a day 
or two aftc>r, the army received orders to embark ; the first 
of the troops going on board on the 24th. 

Several days were occupied in getting all the men and 
horses on board, but on the 27th of February all were ready 
to sail. The regiment to which I belonged, being in the last 
division, had no delay ; and getting into a steamer at the 
wharf at Tampico, we were taken down the river and put on 
board the barque Caroline^ with all our baggage, in a 
few hours. \Ye were no sooner on board than we began to 
weigii anchor, an.! in a very short time all oui ti-ansports 



142 



Ain'KNVVKK* OV .V SOUUKU IN MICXITO. 



li;ul spiwul tluMV oauvas to tlio bi\\\'o. Cur (\cc[, I'onipris 
iii^" iioarlv a IiuiuIiihI sailing' >ossols, tiliv or sixiv of Nvliiili 
wojv largo ^^lupv^ aiul tlio ivmahulor biij^-s an^l si-hootior^, 
prosoutod n Norv imposiuv;- appoarauoo diirino- tho al'tortiooti. 
Tho I'hangv ot position porpotiially ooi'iirriu^- in iho ditl'orout 
vossols, oaus(.o b\ tho ditloiouoo in llioir ralos ol" sailing', 
croatod oxoit.'ntont amoni^' tho nion. and addod \arii't\' and 
iMniniation to tho soono. Tho nnnd^or ot' hiti^v ships tillovl 
>vith tiv^ops, stoios. anvl anunnnition, and tho stroni^th ot" our 
>vhoK^ arnianiont, as ooiuparod \\'\[\\ anvthino- whioh Moxioo 
oouKl t'urnish, inspirod vnir n\on uiih tlio i'ortaintv ol' snoooss 
in tho voduition ot' Nora i^'ru;.. As {o tho ov^st ot" Ht'o 
iuvolvovl in tho uudortaking, that was Ul'i to tho ohaptor ot" 
JU'oidonts ; in rookonino- tho probablo ooininoonoios ot* a 
(.'oming" onpiovniont, tho soUlior soUloni inoliidos hinisoH" in 
tho list ot" tho killod and wonndod. Our dostination tor tho 
tinio was tho island ot' l.v>bos. that boin,'; tho plaoo appointod 
t'or tho whoh^ vossols bolonii'ino; to tho oxpodition to rondo^- 
vous, proparatory to saiUno- t'or tho harbour ot" \'ora Cvu7. 
AVo had a smart i;alo ot" wind during- tho nii;ht, and no\t. 
morning' wo oould only disoorn two or ihroo vossols in 
tho hori/.on out o\ tlio largo tloot whioh had sailovl with 
us on tho provious day. W'o arrivod at l.obos about \\\\ 
oVlook ot' tho sanio ovoning, and oanto to anolu>r; having- 
beaten ovory vossol ot'the expedition, Tho othors oontinnod 
to drop in by twos and throes until tho niiddlo ot" tho ilav, 
by whioh time thoy had all oonio to auchov. 

Lobos is n small sauily island not t"ar t"roni tho o»\-ist, be- 
tween Tampioo and Vera Oruz. It is not soon until tho vova- 
ger is oloso upon it, as it is very little abovo tho lovol oi' tho 
sea. ^^ hilo wo lay thore, as there was a slight gale o( wind, 
the sea broko in a heavy surt" v)n tho barron anddosolato spot, 
oil wliieh the onlv sii>ns ot" voiivtaiion wore i t"ew stunted 



TIIE BCMMONS AND THE ANBWER. 148 

shrubs, evidently struggling hard with the diflficulties of their 
situation for a bare subsistence. Three or four vessels from 
ISTew Orleans were lying here on our arrival ; they fomned 
part of the expedition, and were waiting for us ; a few of 
their passengers had gone ashore and pitched tents, pre- 
ferring to sleep on the solid sand to the pitching of the 
vessel. All our fleet having arrived, on the morning of 
the 1st March we again set sail for Vera Cruz, which we 
reached on the evening of the 2nd, and came to anchor about 
eight miles from the castle of San Juan de Ulloa, the name 
of the fortification at Vera Cruz, about four miles from Sacri- 
ficios, a small island near the castle, where " men-of-war " 
anchor. 

On the morning of the tljird. General Scott summoned the 
city and castle of Vera Cruz to surrender ; and after a delay 
of several days, consumed in discussion by the military go- 
vernor and the civil authorities, the latter of whom were in 
favour of a surrender, a definitive answer was returned to Gene- 
ral Scott that he might come and take them if he could. 
San Juan is a very strong fortification built upon a small 
island in the bay, about three quarters of a mile from the 
pier at Vera Cruz. It had a garrison of between five and 
six ttiousand men, was well supplied with ammunition, and 
bristling with cannon, of which it had about a hundred, some 
of thera of very heavy calibre. The buildings in the castle 
are all bombproof and with the sea wall, are built of a soft 
species of coral, in which cannon balls are imbedded without 
producing the usual shattering and crumbling effect of these 
mirssiles on stone of a harder quality, and which is necessary 
to cause a breach. It was generally considered impregnable, 
and could only be approached by vessels on one side, a coral 
reef stretching round it on every side except the one facing 
the town. ITie city of Vera Cruz is surrounded with a wall 



144 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

al)oiit twelve or fifteen feet high, but which couki be easily 
breached, and thei-e are a number of half moon batteries 
round it well manned with guns ; it is about three miles in 
circumference. 

UaA-ing received the answer of the governor refusing to 
surrender, on the evening of the Tth General Scott issued an 
order for the troops to prepare for binding next morning. 
Commanding officei-s were directed to seo their men furnished 
with two days* provisions in their havresacks, and that they 
had their canteens slung, and tilled with water. Each man 
was also to take either his great-coat or his blanket with 
him, leaving the remainder of his clothes and necessaries, 
packed in his knapsack, on board. On the morning of tho 
8th, however, a stift' breeze having commenced to blow, the 
surf was too hea\^' for landing, and the order was counter 
manded. On the evening of the 8th the order of the pre 
vious evening was re-issued for the next morning, which 
having turned out fine, shortly after sunrise we began to get 
into the boats. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Sacrificios — ^The debarkation — A bivouac — A night alarm. 

The surf-boats used for our disembarkation, had been ex- 
pressly made for the purpose, for which they were admirably 
adapted, being strong, light, and roomy, and carrying about 
a hundred men with ease. The whole of the troops had been 
told off into three divisions, which had to be transferred from 
the vessels they were in, to those denominated in the order. 
When all were ready, at a signal from the vessel in which 
General Scott was, we were to get under weigh for Sacrificios, 
where we were to drop anchor and disembark at a distance 
of four miles from the city of Vera Cruz. The regiment to 
which I belonged was transferred to the deck of the Porpoise 
man-of-war brig. Between ten and eleven o'clock, a.m., the 
troops having been all arranged on the vessels, on board of 
wdiich they had been ordered to proceed, we got under 
weigh ; but as the breeze was against us we had to beat up, 
and a number of the vessels were towed up by 'steamers. It 
was nearly four o'clock before we had all dropped anchor at 
Sacrificios. 

Of vessels of foreign nations lying at anchor at Sacrificios, 
there were an English man-of-war brig, a French ditto, and 
a Spanish sloop of war. The officers of these vessels were 
all on the poop, or quarter-deck, and their crews on the 
rigging, all apparently eyeing our proceedings with much 
curiosity, as we came up and successively dropped anchor, 
our nearest vessels about a cable's length astern of them. 

1 



146 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

The order of landinor was to be as follows : General Worth 
was to land first with his division ; General Twiggs was to 
land with the second division as soon as the boats returned 
from landing all of the first ; General Scott with the third 
division was not to land until the following morning. As our 
regiment belonged to the second division, we had an ex- 
cellent opportunity of witnessing the landing of the first 
party- — an interesting spectacle, as we fully expected they 
would receive a warm reception from the Mexicans, who we 
imagined were stationed behind the sand-hills. A little 
above high-water mark, on the coast, in the neighbourhood 
of Vera Cruz, there is a series of sand-hills, formed by the 
drifting of the fine sand by the violent north gales that blow 
during the winter months. These sand-hills are thirty Or 
forty feet to a hundred feet in height, the highest being in 
the vicinity of the city. It was on the highest of these that 
our batteries were erected for its bombardment. Immedi- 
ately opposite where we were to land, they formed a sloping 
acclivity, varying from thirty to fifty feet in height, covered 
with short scrubby brushwood, and the prickly pear cactus. 
"While the troops were getting into tl^e landing-boats, an 
operation which, though using all possible despatch, occupied 
about half an hour, the ffun-boats sailed as close as thev 
could to the shore, throwing an occasional shell into the 
brushwood, for the purpose of ascertaining if the Mexicans 
had any masked batteries erected, as we supposed. There 
being no indication of any enemy in the vicinity, and the 
boats being now filled, everything was ready for landing the 
first party. 

I cannot say that I felt in the slightest degree inclined to 
earn high fame or distinction, by any very decided demon- 
stration or extraordinary exhibition of personaJ prowess and 
heroic valour on the present occasion ; neither did I overhear 



A MAGNIFICENT SPECTACLE. 147 

any very strong expressions of regret amongst my comrades; 
at the circumstance of our regiment not being the first party 
who were landing. In a short conversation which the sur 
geon held with the hospital attendant a few minutes before, 
we could overhear him ask if the lint and bandages, and 
his case of instruments were close at hand and immediately 
under his eye. An inquiry, just at that particular juncture, 
horribly suggestive of thick-coming fancies, and exceedingly 
well calculated to cool down any dangerous excess of enthu- 
siasm and martial ardour entertained by those who over- 
heard it. Still, when the boats, which contained fully two 
thousand men, were drawn up in line and ready to start, so 
strong was the feeling of contagious sympathy elicited and 
communicated by the sight, surrounded as it was by all the 
glorious pomp and circumstance of war, that I believe there 
were few of the army who did not envy their position, or 
would not gladly have incurred the hazard of the enterprise, 
for the shadow of glory which the distinction conferred. 
The scene was certainly exciting and imposing : the military 
bands of different regiments stationed on the decks of the 
steamers, transports, and men-of-war, played the national 
airs of " Yankee Doodle," " Hail Columbia," and the " Star 
Spangled Banner." Ten thousand of our own troops were 
anxious and eager spectators, and the English, French, and 
Spanish fleets, had each their representative, scanning our 
operations with critical eye, and all looking with curiosity 
to see the issue of the exploit. 

At a signal from the vessel having General Scott on board, 
the boats simultaneously gave way for shore, leaving a con- 
siderable space vacant in front of our men-of-war, who were 
anchored next the shore, and had their guns double shotted, 
ready to open upon the enemy, should they make their 
appearance. The gun-boats, meanwhile, continued to tack 



148 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

backwards and forwards, almost close to the shore, for the 
same purpose. Under the circumstances, it was plain that 
the Mexicans could not prevent us from landing, but, by- 
waiting until the first party were fairly on the sands, they 
might assault them with a very superior force, when our 
gun-boats and men-of-war would be prevented from firing, 
by the fear of injuring our own men. This was the event 
we almost expected to witness, and, as the boats neared the 
shore, all straining their energies for the honour of being the 
first to land, we watched the result with intense anxiety, 
expecting each moment to see a body of Mexican cavalry 
charge over the sand-hills. But no such event occurred ; on 
coming to within about a hundred yards of the shore, the 
boats grounded on a small sandbar. The men and oflBcers 
immediately leaped into the water, the former carrying their 
muskets on their shoulders, and holding their cartridge boxes 
well up, as the water reached to their hips while wading 
ashore. As the boats successively arrived, the men were 
formed on the beach ; the boats making all expedition back 
to the vessels for more men. All of the first party having 
formed into line, several regimental colours were displayed, 
and a charge made to the heights in front, but not a single 
Mexican was to be seen. The American flag was immedi- 
ately planted amidst loud and prolonged cheers, which were 
enthusiastically echoed by the troops on board. All idea of 
there being any fighting for that day, at least, was now at 
an end, piquets were thrown out, and sentries posted on the 
most advantageous points of the heights to guard against a 
surprise ; the men began to make themselves at home ; we 
could observe fires were kindled, and camp kettles swinging 
on them, in less than an hour after they had landed, and 
before evening the beach had all the appearance of a 
camp. 



ILL-TIMED TEETOTALISM, 149 

The captain of the Porpoise brig, who seemed a jovial and 
good-hearted fellow, proposing to act hospitably to the sol- 
diers whom he had on board, ordered the steward to furnish 
an allowance of grog to each, the same as the sailors were 
in the habit of receiving ; but our oflBcers put a stop to the 
exercise of his generosity, for which extreme shabbiness they 
had the contempt of the captain, and the discontented mur- 
murs of their own men. Their conduct, on this occasion, 
was the more freely commented on and censured, as it was 
well known that they had all partaken of the captain's hospi- 
tality, without stint, themselves, and it was utterly absurd 
to imagine that a single allowance of grog could injure any 
person, however unused to spirits. We had been standing 
on deck all day in the hot sun, with our muskets in our hands, 
for there was neither an awning nor room to sit down any- 
where, on account of the crowded state of the deck. It would 
probably be nine or ten o'clock that night before we got ashore, 
when we should have to lie down and sleep on the beach 
without taking off our accoutrements, which we should have 
to wear for days, perhaps for weeks to come. But all these 
disagi'eeables, as they were the natural and unavoidable con- 
sequence of our position, were as dust in the balance, com- 
pared with the reflection, that our officers grudged us the 
slight degree of sympathetic consolation, implied in the good- 
natured captain's offer of a glass of grog. "The dirty 
miserly nagurs," audibly grumbled Micky Kyan, " faith, 
an' six allowances some of the customers have in their own 
insides ; may the Lord look down on us, for we've happened 
badly on them for gintlemin ; shure there's not one of the 
miserly crathurs has a heart as big as a grasshopper's." 

About ten o'clock at night the boats came alongside to 
take our regiment ashore, being the last of the second divi- 
sion. Two or three lanthorns were held over the ship's side, 



150 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

and, tlie water being smooth, we were soon all in. We 
were then rowed ashore till, the boat striking the sand, we 
had to jump in and wade up to the middle for about a hun- 
dred yards, as the others had done. This was a bad pre- 
paration for going to sleep on the beach, but, except when 
there is a north gale blowing, which was not the case that 
night, the night air is warm on the beach of Vera Cruz, and 
we suffered little inconvenience from our wetting. We were 
met by an officer on shore, who said he would show us the 
position our regiment was to occupy ; and, after being formed 
into companies, we were marched along the beach through 
a number of rows of small oblong heaps, which, in the dim 
starlight, the sky being partially obscured by the drifting 
clouds, bore a striking, and I could scarce help fancying, 
ominous resemblance to an extensive and over-populous 
graveyard. At length we arrived at a vacant spot in the 
line which had been reserved for our occupation, and, having 
been directed to pile arms, we were told we might lie down 
when we pleased, but in the immediate vicinity of our arms, 
which each man was to be ready to grasp at a moment's 
notice. This was the first time I had ever seen a bivouac, 
and, certainly, it seemed a very primitive and cool way of 
lodging ; as my comrade Nutt remarked, it did look rather 
like taking actual possession of the soil. After enjoying a 
comfortable smoke, we prepared for taking a warrior's rest, by 
wrapping our martial cloaks around us, or pulling the capes 
of our great-coats over our heads, to exclude the sand and 
night air ; we tumbled over on the beach, and were soon 
several fathoms deep in the land of dreams. 

But the Mexicans were not disposed to allow us the un- 
disturbed possession of our first night's quarters, indifferent 
though they were, without giving an intimation, at least, of 
their sentiments towards us. It was between twelve and 



A NIGHT ALARM. 151 

one o'clock, and only about an hour after we had fallen 
asleep, that we were roused by the report of musketry, and 
found the whole camp a scene of the utmost confusion and 
commotion. A number of the men, owing to the fatigua 
of the previous day, and having slejDt little the previous 
night, were so sound asleep, that it was only by violently 
shaking or kicking them, that they could be roused. At 
last they were all got up and formed into line, when we 
were directed to examine the priming of our muskets, and 
see if they were ready for immediate use. In the meantime 
the balls flew over our heads, with their peculiar metallic 
ringing sort of whistle, in quick succession ; and, though 
high enough fortunately to do little damage, yet quite near 
enough to make nervous persons feel rather uncomfortable. 
The firing continued for about ten minutes, in as quick a 
succession of reports as would be made by the irregular file- 
firing of two or three hundred men ; and, if it had been well 
directed, as it easily might have been, by an enemy well 
acquainted with the surrounding country, and the position 
we occupied, we might have paid dear for our "lodgings 
upon the cold ground." A few rounds from a division of 
infantry ordered out for the purpose, having caused these 
night disturbers to scamper, we soon piled arms, and in 
a few minutes were again fast asleep ; and, thanks to the 
vigilance of our out-lying piquets, who gave and received a 
dropping fire until near morning, we enjoyed our slumbers 
unmolested during the remainder of the night. Next morn- 
ing, we learned that the firing of the previous night had 
proceeded from a body of lancers from the city, who had 
been quickly driven in by a regiment of General Worth's 
division. The casualties of the night were five or six wound- 
ed, one or two of whom were, report said, dangerously hurt; 
but there had been none killed. 



CHAPTER XIIL 

General Seott — ^The Shell — Naval sporting — Investment of Vera 
Cruz — Vergara — Spoiling the knapsacks. 

Early next morBing, the third division, with the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, General Scott,^ landed j and our army hav- 
ing been formed into column, we moved to a position a mile 
or two nearer the town, and covered from observation by the 
sand-hills. Here we bivouacked in the vicinity of a small 
stream — General Scott and his staff had tents pitched — the 
remainder, officers as well as men, crept imder th€i shade of 
the biishes to screen themselves from the scorching rays of 
the sun, or sticking stout branches upright in the ground, 
cut a quantity of leafy twigs to serve as a roof, and thus 
made a tolerable sort of a bower. In the meantime, one of 
our light batteries was out skirmishing with the enemy's 
outposts, which offering slight resistance, were successively 
driven in with little difficulty. From the landing of siege 
material and heavy ordnance, which had busily commenced, 
we now perceived that the intention of General Scott was t» 
bombard the city. 

A great deal of virtuous indignation has been exhibited 
by the English press on the subject of the bombardment of 
Vera Cruz, which it has generally stigmatized as a barbaroijs 
slaughter of women and children, having no parallel in 
modern history. It was asser'ed that Wellington, or any of 
his generals, had never bombarded an open city, and a great 
deal more of a similar tendency, all calcialated to show that 



A SLANDER REFUTED. 153 

war is carried on in a liiglily humane and civilized mwde by 
the enlightened nations of Europe ; and that the Americans, 
and General Scott in particular, had behaved in a very bar- 
barous manner. Now all that sort of twaddle seems exces- 
sively weak to any one at all acquainted with the circum- 
stances ; the truth being notorious that General Scott, 
besides being one of the most skilful and scientific generals 
of modern times, is also one of the most humane men in the 
world. For my part, I have not the slightest doubt that his 
character, in respect of the noblest attributes of humanity, 
may bear triumphant comparison with that of the most 
praiseworthy and philanthropic members of any society, 
order, or profession, in the world. The real fact being, that 
his humanity, and a desire to spare a needless efi"usion of 
blood, caused him to adopt the method he took for the 
reduction of Vera Cruz; being anxious to avoid a repeti- 
tion of the horrible and savagely barbarous scenes consequent 
on the storming of a city, of which the history of the Peninsu- 
lar war may furnish a few examples illustrative of the humane 
practices of European armies. To understand this apparent 
paradox, one should know a few of the facts of the case. In 
the first place, Vera Cruz, so far from being an open city, is 
very well fortified, having a wall and ditch all round it, and 
a series of half-moon batteries, not deficient in the requisite 
ordnance to make a stout resistance. These batteries sweep 
a perfectly level plain, extending from half a mile to a mile 
between the walls and the sand-hills, and would have proved 
very destructive to an assaulting party. Now, if the inha- 
bitants, receiving, as they did, two or three weeks' previous 
notice to quit, preferred remaining in the city, General Scott 
having plainly signified that, for certain economical reasons, 
he dechned taking their batteries with the bayonet, and 
intended to try a game at the long bowls, which the Mexi- 

7* 



154 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

cans are so fond of themselves — if, being duly warned, they 
chose to remain and be killed, I do not see how General 
Scott should be blamed for the result. But let us suppose 
that, with the intention of sparing the lives of the inhabitants, 
by the very disinterested sacrifice of the lives of a few of the 
troops under his command, he had decided on carrying the 
place by assault, which would probably have cost the assault- 
ing force from 1,000 to 1,500 men ; does any person, in the 
possession of sound intellect, imagine that, in the latter event, 
General Scott could have prevented scenes of plunder, the 
resistance of inhabitants, and the commission of deeds of 
crime and horror, fearful to contemplate ? Those who think 
that troops, even of well -disciplined armies (a character I 
would by no means claim for the army under General Scott), 
can be held in subordinate check by any amount of exertion 
on the part of their officers, on an occasion of the above 
nature, are not likely, I apprehend, to form a correct idea 
on the subject. But to any impartial person, taking an 
unprejudiced view of the case, I think it will appear tolerably 
obvious, that the method adopted by General Scott was the 
most humane even for the inhabitants. 

A few days after landing, the various divisions were 
ordered to the positions which they were to occupy during 
the progress of the siege. The division to which I belonged, 
that of General Twiggs, was ordered to Vergara, a small 
village close to the sea-beach, and on the north-west side of 
the city, from which it was distant about four miles. In 
crossing a high sand-hill behind the city, our men being 
exposed to the view of one of their batteries, they kept up an 
incessant fire of round shot and shell while our division 
passed, which, being in file, occupied a considerable time ; 
but they showed no great proficiency in gunnery on this 
occasion, as very few of their shot took effect. It was here 



THE PASSAGE OF A SHELL. 155 

that I heard, for the first time, the singular and diabolically- 
horrific sound which a large shell makes when passing 
within a short distance ; I don't mean when it explodes (as 
that exactly resembles the noise made in firing a gun), but 
when it passes within a few, or it may be fifty or a hundred 
yards; the noise seeming equally loud and discordant in 
either case. I recollect a reply of honest Mick Ryan on 
beinff asked if he had ever heard a sound Hke that before. 

is 

" No," said Mick, " one can both hear and feel that sound — 
by the Eternal, I felt it all over." There is no earthly sound 
bearing the shghtest resemblance to its monstrous dissonance ; 
the angriest shriek of the railway whistle, or the most 
emphatic demonstration of an asthmatic engine at the start- 
ino; of a train, would seem like a strain of heavenly melody 
by comparison. Perhaps Milton's description of the harsh, 
thunder-grating of the hinges of the infernal gates, approach- 
es to a faint realization of the indescribable sound, which 
bears a more intimate relation to the sublime than the 
beautiful. However, the Mexicans did very small damage 
by their practice ; the only result was to make our men fall 
fiat on the sand ; which they did every time a shell came, 
and which I have no doubt saved a few limbs from damage. 
It was amusing, even amidst the danger from these horrid 
missiles, to see an officer, after getting up and anathematiz- 
ing his men emphatically for lying down on the sand, drop 
as suddenly and as flat as any of them, when the next shell 
came whizzing rather close to him. The only victim to this 
ball-practice of the Mexicans in our regiment was a Uttle 
drummer-boy, about thirteen years of age, named Rome, 
who had one of his arms shot off by the fragment of an 
exploding shell. He was one of the most quiet and obliging 
boys in the regiment, and we were all very sorry for him ; 
many of the men saying if it had been such a boy (naming 



156 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

one of the others), it would have been no great matter, bii* 
it was a pity for poor Httle Rome. The httle fellow cried 
very bitterly at the time, but the surgeon having carefully 
amputated it^ he soon recovered, and on our regiment 
returning to New York in August, 1849, he came over to 
Governor's Island to see us. He was then living with a 
gentleman in New York, who employed him to carry mes- 
sages and do light work for him. A captain of a volunteer 
regiment had his head taken off by a cannon-ball the same 
afternoon ; but considering the immense amount of their 
practice, and the quantity of ammunition fired by their 
various batteries, the smallness of our los& in killed and 
wounded is astonishing : the total American loss including 
those killed and wounded in skirmishes in the vicinity of the 
city, during the whole siege, only amounted to seventeen 
killed and fitly-seven wounded. 

We bivouacked near the edge of a thick chaparral, about 
four or five miles from Vergara, the position our division was 
to occupy ; but which, for some reason or other, we did not 
move to for the next three days. We were amused with a 
volunteer whom we met here, coming out of the chaparral 
loaced with two muskets and a turkey. He had followed 
the turkey, a tame one, into the chaparral, and having 
strayed too far off the road, he was seen and fired at by a 
Mexican piquet — they exchanged a few shots, he said, when 
he killed the yellow beggar by shooting him through the 
body. He had brought the Mexican's musket as well as the 
turkey^ a fine fat one, and decidedly the most valuable prize 
in general estimation ; he spoke very contemptuously of the 
Mexican's skill in the use of fire-arms, none of his shots 
having come within yards of him. On quitting us, he added, 
that there were plenty more in the chaparral, and he guessed 
he would shoot another before sun-down ; whether he meant 



DESULTORY SKIRMISHES. 157 

turkey or Mexican was difficult to coiDprelieiid, but, as li<j 
seemed to enjoy the sport of shooting the one biped about as 
much as the other, I have no doubt he considered them 
both equally fair game. As usual, we were aroused during 
the night by the firing of musketry, and fell in under arms 
until the alarm was discovered to be false. These nocturnal 
alarms were very annoying for the first week or so after 
landing, as we never passed a night without being roused 
from our sleep, and ordered to fall in under arms, and this 
too, twice or thrice during the course of the night sorofjtimes. 
At last, as they were found, except in one or two instances, 
to be caused by the blundering of sentries, a number of 
whom were Germans, and not sufficiently acquainted with 
the English language to clearly comprehend their orders, 
our officers ceased to mind these alarms ; and when wakened 
by the report of a few muskets we only turned ovct to sleep 
again, gi-umbling a curse on the stu2:)idity origip«iting the 
disturbance. Bodies of the enemy, principally lapcers, were 
known to be in the vicinity ; but, owing to the nature of the 
country round Vera Cruz, which is covered with chaparral, 
no body of the enemy could approach our lines ?t night by 
any other mode than the open road. These k<»ys of the 
position were well watched by our piquets, and be'o^f defend- 
ed by a few field-pieces, there was little danger to be 
apprehended from an enemy like the one we had ^o contend 
with. A few desultory skirmishes took place betw^^.en part 
of General Worth's division, consisting of volunteers, and 
Colonel Harney's dragoons, and a body of Mexican lancers ; 
but the Mexicans fought very shy on these occa^^ons, and 
soon gave up the idea of being able to eflfect anythinir like a 
bold stroke in favour of the besieged. For two ^r three 
days after moving from where we landed, all our provisions 
Lad to be carried from the beach, a distance of three >r four 



158 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

miles tlirougli heavy sands, and under a scorching sun ; and 
as the men who carried them had to take their arms at the 
same time, to defend themselves in case of an attack, the 
duty was excessively fatiguing. Several of our men who 
died shortly after, assigned as the cause of their illness, the 
over-exertion they had used when on these harassing fatigue 
duties. 

Our supply of water whih lying here was scanty and bad, 
being only procurable by digging holes in the sand to the 
depth of four or five feet, and then waiting until the muddy- 
looking fluid oozed up to a sufficient depth to enable us to 
dip it with the tin cups which we carried. We were all very 
glad, therefore, when we moved to Vergara, as we were told 
that there, at least, we should have plenty of good water. 
Our, road at first wound through chaparral and tangled 
thickets of cacti and other war-like vegetables of the chevaux 
de frise order, along the edge of a marsh, where we halted 
in order to drink and fill our canteens with the water which 
it contained. As we had all been suflfering considerably for 
the previous two days from the efi'ects of thirst, few were in- 
clined to criticise too nicely the quality of this water, which, 
though not exactly transparent, yet to observe the apparent 
gusto with which almost all quaffed repeated draughts of it, 
one might have fancied it to be exceedingly like nectar, inde- 
scribably sweet. " Hunger is a good sauce," says the pro- 
verb, and thirst is equally remarkable as a filter. We had a 
Mexican guide with us who was well acquainted with the 
country in the environs of the city, and who rode beside 
General Twiggs. In all our marches in Mexico, the guide 
always rode along with the commander of the division, act- 
ing as interpreter and guide both, upon occasion. When we 
approached within two miles of Vergara, o^ir road led 
through a rich and fertile soil, partially cultivated, and con- 



THE BEAUTIES OF A CHAPARRAL. 159 

taining a number of very large and venerable-looking trees. 
We also passed several raiirhos, but all deserted by their own- 
ers, the poor creatures having been the first to suffer from our 
invasion. We soon reached Vergara, a few straggling huts 
on a road leading down to the beach. A beautiful clear stream 
emptied its waters into the sea close to the village, so clear 
that every motion of the small fish playing in its pellucid pools, 
was as distinctly visible as those of the unfortunate goldfish 
one sometimes observes pensively circumgy rating in the inte- 
rior of its enchanted globular ball in the shop-window. The 
banks of the stream were shaded for miles by magnificent 
trees, and in the adjacent thickets a variety of wild fruits 
were found growing ; but the only ones I found ripe were 
lemons and limes, of which I plucked quantities to squeeze 
in water, an acidulous drink being exceedingly refreshing 
with the thermometer upwards of ninety. When returning 
in July of the following year, 1 found some delicious guavas 
and sour sops in these thickets. The timber and the fertil- 
ity of the soil are unusual features in the face of the country 
in the vicinity of Vera Cruz ; for a considerable distance 
round which sandy hillocks and swampy morasses, varied by 
a section of dense chaparral, are the general rule. Tho 
chaparral, or natural thicket, of Mexico, is totally unlike 
any other thicket I have ever seen — a great portion of it 
being completely impenetrable. All the shrubs and trees of 
the dense chaparral bear clusters of thorns, sharp as the 
stings of bees, and as stubborn as bayonets. The various 
tribes of the cactus nation, with their innumerable needles — 
trifies in comparison to the thorns before mentioned — fill up 
the intervals between the thorn-bearing trees, rendering the 
whole a complete series of impregnable natural defences. 
The foregoing description applies to thick or dense chapar- 
ral, which is utterly impassable — of course, there are por* 



100 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

tions of it more open, where thorny shrubs are less frequent, 
and which may be trave^'sed with ease. 

We found a wao-o^on loaded with barrels of Madeira wine 
in the village — it had just arrived from Jalapa, and was des- 
tined for the garrison at Vera Cruz. General Twiggs ordered 
the wine to be distributed amongst the men, and we each 
received a small measure containing about half-a-pint. 
General Twiggs and his officers found good quarters in the 
huts of the village — the different regiments bivouacking in 
the vicinity. In the evening a report was current that a 
body of lancers meant to attack us during the night, and the 
l^iquets had orders to be on the alert. The road, at the dis- 
tance of about a mile from our encampment, was defended 
by two field-pieces, and a few trees were felled and laid 
across the road, but the lancers declined making their appear- 
ance. 

Next day a schooner arrived loaded with provisions, 
saving the men a very laborious task of carrying them round 
from the beach. Still the duties of guards, piquets, and 
fatigue parties, harassed the men greatly ; and many of 
them were soon prostrated by disease — especially with that 
scourge of armies on a campaign, diarrhoea. About a week 
after our arrival, we also got tents pitched — our regimental 
baggage having been brought round from Sacrificios by 
light sailing vessels. Our knapsacks also arrived at the same 
time ; but the plight in which we received them, was the 
cause of loud and general complaint ; many of them being 
rilled of their most valuable contents, and some completely 
gutted, while but a small number had escaped untouched. 
They had been left on the beach, at the place where we had 
landed, for the pre\nous eight or ten days, during which time 
they had been in charge of different hordes of volunteers, 
who, as might have been expected, had made rather too free 



THE RIFLING OF THE KNAPSACKS. 161 

with their contents. But there was no help for it ; and the 
bursting choler of manj^ found vent in a storm of impreca- 
tions and maledictions, while the more cool and reflective 
only hoped they would have an opportunity of serving out a 
volunteer before the end of the campaign. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

A prophecy fulfilled — The bombardment — Visit to Vera Cruz. 

A SINGULAR coincidence with the prediction of the insane 
sailor who came to Tampico with us in the John Potter, oc- 
curred while we lay at Vergara. This was the total loss of 
that brig, which, with two schooners sent round from Sacri- 
ficios with stores and provisions, was driven ashore by one 
of those violent north gales which blow so frequently on this 
coast during the winter. There being no practicable means 
of getting them off, Avithout incurring more expense than 
they were worth, they were left to their fate ; and when we 
returned in the summer of the following year, their upright 
timbers protruded from the sand, where they lay firmly im- 
bedded. Several of our men considered the occurrence 
ocular demonstration of the existence of witchcraft, or some 
species of demonology, and some whom the march of intel- 
lect had rendered sceptical on these points had their faith in 
these ancient doctrines revived and confirmed. 

The preparations for the bombardment of the city mean- 
while went on vigorously, but many of the men appeared to 
think that General Scott was only losing time, and that a 
rush on the city at all points, to carry it by a coup de main, 
would be the only proper and effectual plan of proceeding. 
General Twiggs himself had been heard to express his disap- 
proval of losing so much time, after the following manner, 
" Ugh ! my boys '11 have to take it yet with their bayonets." 
A.S a short description of General Twiggs may not be alto- 



A PERSONAL SKETCH. 163 

gether uninteresting, I will give it as it struck me at the 
time. In height the General is about five feet ten inches, 
verv broad shouldered and bull-necked, and is altofi^ether a 
very stout and robust-looking man, though verging on sixty 
years of age. His face is large and red, with blue eyes, and 
rather coarse and heavy-looking features ; an exuberant mass 
of tow-white hair, with long beard, and whiskers of the same 
colour, give him a gruff appearance, quite in keeping with 
his character, in which the disagreeable and the unprepos- 
sessing are the preponderating qualities. But he was a great 
favourite amongst the men, who admired him principally, I 
believe, for his brusquerie and coarseness of manner, and a 
Ringular habit he had of swearing most vehemently, and fly- 
ing into a passion on the most trifling occasions. But though 
General Twiggs had the most republican contempt for eti- 
quette, and even the common courtesies of civilized life, in 
his intercourse with others, he was furious if a soldier hap- 
pened to omit paying him the customary military salute in 
passing. 

The erection of the batteries on the sand hills, and the 
conveyance of so much heavy ammunition to places conve- 
nient, was a very laborious task for our army in such a warm 
and exhausting climate. But all the troops took their share 
of the duty, each regiment working so many hours in suc- 
cession, under its oflScers. At last, by dint of prodigious and 
untiring exertion, parties of our men having been employed 
in working day and night ever since our landing, on the 
22nd of March, all being ready for 02:)erations, the town was 
formally summoned, and the governor having refused to sur- 
render, the work of havoc and destruction was ordered to be 
commenced. For three successive days and nights, with 
short periods of intermission, the thunders of our guns and 
mortars, and the enemy's batteries in tlpe city, were most 



164 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

deafening and incessant. On a height near our camp at 
Vergara, a number of our men frequently stood watching 
tlie shells at night ; their appearance resembled that of the 
meteors called shooting or falling stars ; and they were dis- 
tinctly visible from the time when they began to ascend in 
their circling course until they disappeared among the roofs 
of the buildings. At length, on the 26th, after shot and 
shell to the number of seven thousand of those destructive 
missiles had been poured into the unfortunate city, they dis- 
played a white flag, and after a day or two spent in nego- 
tiating, the following terms were finally agreed on. The town 
and castle were to be surrendered on the 29th, the garrison 
to march out of the central city gate and lay down their 
arms, and to be furnished with four days' provisions. The 
officers to be allowed to retain their arms, and to have five 
days to return to their native homes ; all public property and 
materiel of war to belong to the American forces, the sick 
and wounded to be allowed to remain in the city, and no 
private property or building to be taken possession of by the 
Americans. On the 29th, the Mexicans, amounting to be- 
tween four and five thousand, marched out of the city, and 
deposited their arms in front of a strong body of the Ame- 
rican army drawn up to receive them. A brigade under 
General Quitman marched in and occupied the garrisons 
forthwith, and the American flag floated over San Juan 
d'Ulloa and the city of Vera Cruz. 

Having procured a written permission from the officer 
commanding our regiment, a few days after our troops had 
taken possession of the city, I visited it in company with 
Sergeants Lear and Beebe, of ours ; being curious to observe 
the effects of the bombardment, and also to gratify our 
curiosity with a view of the interior of a city which at a 
short distance presents a very grand and imposing appear 



EFFECTS OP THE OMBARDMENT. 16^ 

ance. Tlie city of Vera Cruz is very well built, the houses 
being of stone, and the walls of the most substantial thick- 
ness, an excellent thing in a warm climate. The streets are 
wide and well paved, and its general appearance is that of a 
clean, neat, and compactly built city. It contains a number 
of very handsome churches, the painted and gilt domes of 
which give a highly imposing effect to the view of it from a 
short distance. The interiors of several of these churches 
w^hich we visited were higlily ornamented with shrines, and 
all the profusion of carving, gilding, and painting, usual in 
these places; the most of it tawdry and vulgar-looking I 
imagined. One of the churches which we entered near the 
centre of the city, the most richly decorated we have seen, 
having a fine marble-paved floor, a magnificent dome, and 
some very good pictures, had been converted into an hospital 
for the wounded, and contained upwards of a hundred male 
patients at the time we were in it. Several shells had iallen 
through the dome, on the marble floor, the fragments of 
which had made sad mutilations of the pictures and effigies 
of the saints and virgins of the various shrines round the 
building. And what seemed to us heretics far more pitiable, 
though doubtless of minor importance in the eyes of a true 
Catholic, one of these shells had killed and wounded about 
twenty of the unfortunate inhabitants who had fled to its 
shelter as a sanctuary of safety during the bombardment. 
The whole of the south-west side of the city, which, lying 
nearest our batteries, was most exposed to the storm of 
destructive missiles, was a scene of desolation calculated to 
make the most strenuous advocates of physical force pause 
and reflect. For my own part, while ready to admit the 
whole weight and force of such powerful arguments, I felt 
strongly inclined to doubt the justice or propriety of having 
recourse to them. Whole streets were crumbled to ruins, 



166 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

and they told us the killed and wounded inhabitants amounted 
to between five and six hundred, while the soldiers who had 
been employed at their batteries during the whole time of 
the bombardment had as many more ; the entire killed and 
wounded being over a thousand. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Sickness — March on Jalapa — Position of the enemy — Order to at- 
tack — The counter-order and its effect. 

A GREAT deal of sickness prevailing among the troops, 
General Scott wisely determined to lose no time in removing 
the main body to Jalapa, where it was said to be his inten- 
tion to wait for further reinforcements from the States. 
General Twiggs with his division w^as to march on the 'Zth 
of April, the other two divisions following in succession. As 
an engagement with the enemy was anticipated before we 
reached Jalapa, and as the means of transport were too 
limited to admit of our carrying much of our baggage along 
with us, all the heaviest of it, together with our tents, was 
directed to be packed up and left in the quartermaster's 
stores at Vera Cruz. A great number of sick were left 
behind, few of whom ever joined again, as most of the poor 
fellows soon fell victims to the unwholesome climate and the 
careless treatment soldiers receive in over-crowded hospitals 
during a campaign. Among those early victims for whom 
we were especially sorry, were Davies and Bob Madden, 
formerly mentioned, who were left behind with several more 
of our company, and of whose deaths we received intimation 
shortly after we arrived at Jalapa. 

On the morning of the Vth, about seven o'clock, our divi- 
sion, consisting of about 3000 infantry, a light battery, con- 
sisting of two six-pounder field pieces and two twelve- 
pounder howitzers, and a small body of cavalry, proceeded 



168 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

on our marcli to Jalapa. For the first six or seven miles our 
progress was very slow and painful, the road being a loose 
•sand, in which we sank to the ankles at every step. A great 
many of the men, myself among the number, were ill with 
diarrhoea ; but being of opinion that small chance of renewed 
health awaited those who stayed behind in the hospitals at 
Vera Cruz,, we were all glad to get away from it ; trusting 
for a renewal of our exhausted vigour to the purer air of the 
mountains, which a few days' march would enable us to 
breathe. After marching about three miles, we halted at a 
bridge thrown over a small stream which crossed the road, 
and many of the men taking off their knapsacks, began to 
select those articles which they resolved to carry, throwing 
the remainder away. Numbers of them reserved only a 
great-coat or blanket, deliberately sacrificing the rest of their 
effects, and before we reached Santa Fe, a small village 
about eight miles from Vergara, the road was strewn with 
articles of clothing thrown away by the men. 

We halted in the village of Santa Fe, for a short time, 
and General Twiggs and the ofl[icers of his staff entered a 
house where they sat down to rest, sheltered from the scorch- 
ing heat of the sun. Some of the men in the meantime had 
discovered an apartment at the other end of the building, 
containing some barrels of aquadiente, or Mexican brandy, 
and an entrance having been effected, a considerable portion 
of the liquor had found its way into the men's canteens, be- 
fore a knowledge of their proceedings had been communi- 
cated by the Mexican to the General. The anger of Gene- 
ral Twiggs as he rushed to the scene, and the celerity with 
whicli tlie marauders " vamosed the ranche^'' as they heard 
the ominous alarm of " here's old Davy," transcend descrip- 
tion. Two or three of the unlucky wights, however, he met 
on the threshold of the door, on their way out ; these he 



THE MARCH. 169 

seized by the collar and swung round till lie liad an oppor- 
tunity of administering a sound kick to tlieir posteriors. 
None of tliem, however, stayed to remonstrate on these 
rather unpleasant demonstrations of the old General's love of 
justice, being only too happy to get out of that fix so easily, 
and the bugle having been ordered to sound " The Assembly," 
we were formed into our ranks, and the march was imme- 
diately resumed. 

Oeneral Twiggs, who rode at the head of the division, 
committed a great error in permitting the men in front to 
walk too quick on this day's march. The consequence of 
this was that a great many of the men being weak from the 
effects of diarrhoea could not keep up, and slipped off" the 
road into the thickets, which after leaving Santa Fe began 
to offer an inviting shade, and in which many of them lay 
down and deliberately resolved on staying behind the division. 
When we reached the place where we were to encamp for 
the night, a small stream about five miles from Santa Fe, 
the rear of the column was several miles behind, the men 
straggling along the road at their own discretion ; and when 
the rolls were called at sunset, about a third of the men were 
absent, not having come up. We bivouacked under the 
trees by the roadside, the grass was deliciously soft and elas- 
tic, and, after a supper of coffee, biscuit, and pork, Nutt 
made us some aquadiente punch, after quaffing a bumper or 
two of which, we lay down, and slept very comfortably until 
roused by the reveille next morning about four o'clock. 

We had warm coffee before starting in the morning, our 
cooks, who had no other duties to perform on a march, ex- 
cept cooking, always getting up sufficiently early to have 
coff"ee ready before the hour of starting. On the rolls being 
called this morning, there were between three and four hun- 
dred men still absent, according to cuiTent report. Although 

8 



170 ADVENTURES OF A SOLmER IN MEXICO. 

there was no great danger for tliese men, as tliey would go 
in small bodies, for mutual protection, and eacli man, besides 
being well armed, had three days' provisions in his havresac ; 
yet one could scarcely help thinking that it was a strangel}/- 
irregular system of inarching, w^hich, carried on to much 
greater extent, would have a fatally destructive eifect on tljo 
discipline of an army. We marched considerably slower to- 
day, resting more frequently, and taking care that none of 
the men straggled to the rear. Our road to-day was over a 
level tract of country, containing some good rich soil, and for 
a distance of eight or ten miles we had a wood of very fine 
looking timber on each side of tlie road. Fantiistic drape- 
ries and festoons of flowing creepers and vines, hung from 
the branches, and numerous beautiful parasitic plants climbed 
the trunks of trees in these woods. Many of the trees also 
boi*e magnificent flowering blossoms, and the whole air v/as 
redolent of their rich perfume. I was almost soriy when we 
emerged into the hglit and air of the open country agaiu, 
though knowing it to be infinitely more healthy tlian the 
heavily-loaded and poisonous atmosphere of these delightful 
shades, in which, on account of their beauty, I could ha\'e 
lingered a little longer with pleasure. 

AVe arrived at one o'clock, and bivouacked that night at a 
small stream, which had the appearance, from its broad peb- 
bly channel, and a number of deep pools which it conbiiiicd, 
of a river of considerable size at certain periods of the year. 
My comrade Nutt, and I, bathed in one of these pools, and 
found ourselves considerably refreshed by the operation. One 
of the gi'eatest luxuries which I ever enjoyed, is bathing in 
a clear river after a hot and dusty day's march. On these 
occasions, of course one should not go in until rested and 
cooled a little, nor stay too long in, especially if the water is 
cold ; but with the precautions which common sense may 



FIRST SIGHT OF THE NATIONAL BRIDGE. ]7l 

teach one, besides being a luxury of the highest order, I have 
always found it a most valuable and powerful auxiliary to 
health. 

Some of the men who had fallen behind came up with us 
this evening. They said the rest of the stragglers had de- 
termined not to come up with the division for a few days. 
They had shot some cattle, and were plundering the houses 
of those who sold aquadiente of that article, as they came 
along ; and upon the whole they seemed to be taking pretty 
good care of themselves ; at all events these demonstrations 
seemed tolerably vigorous for sick and delicate persons una- 
ble CO keep up with the division. Most of them came up 
with General Patterson's division, which was only one day's - 
march behind us, and except a few who were killed by the 
peasantry, they had all joined before the battle of Cerro 
Gordo. 

We commenced the next day's march about an hour befoje 
sunrise, as we wished to have the most of it over before the 
extreme heat of noon. The road was up hill, rocky, and very 
bad travelling for man or beast ; it also lay through a barren 
tract of country, and water was not to bo procured. Those 
men who had neglected to fill their canteens with water be- 
fore starting, found great difficulty in procuring a drink when 
thirsty to-day ; as the others who had been more provident, 
considered it sufficient hardship to carry enough for them- 
selves. At length, about 1 1 o'clock, on winding down a steep 
hill, we came in sight of the Puente Nacional (National 
Bridge). This was the first scene since we had entered Mex- 
ico, that by its picturesque beauty called forth a spontaneous 
burst of admiration. " Scotland or d n me," was the ex- 
clamation of Jock AVhitelaw, a Glasgow callant, as the scene 
opened on his delighted vision. The precipitous banks of 
the river, rocky, and ornamented with tufts of flowering 



172 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

Blirubs, shooting out from its fissures, and suggestive of broom 
and breckan, blue bells and heather, render the scene exceed- 
ingly like the section of a Scotch river glen. Indeed, I 
believe the most unimaginative Scotchman will hardly pass 
the National Bridge without feeling his native land suggested 
to memory by the similar characteristics of the scenery. The 
bi-idge is a very substantial and magnificent-looking struc- 
ture, built of stone arches through which rushes the clear 
and rapid stream over a fine pebbly channel. We halted 
here a considerable time, for the purpose of allowing the men 
to refresh themselves with the delicious sparkling water of 
the Rio Antiqua (Old River). We then marched through 
a village of huts which stood on each side of the road at the 
end of the bridge, the walls of which were canes, and wooden 
poles, made into a sort of hurdles, and the roofs thatched 
with palm leaves. The village was shaded by some very fine 
mimosas, and on a plain at the end of it we encamped for 
the night. The weather had been fine since we left Vera 
Cruz, and we had suffered no inconvenience from sleeping on 
the grass ; my health had also materially improved, a result 
I had anticipated from the exercise of marching, which had 
always agreed with me. In the afternoon, my comrade Nutt 
and myself went down to the river and bathed, after which 
we washed our shirts and stockings, which soon dried in the 
hot sunshine. We remarked, while going through the vil- 
lage, that all the huts except two or three containing a few 
old women and children, were empty and deserted. This 
was considered a proof that a force was collected at some 
point farther on the road, and between us and Jalapa. 

We commenced our march before sunrise next morninc: as 
usual, and after a fatiguing march over a tolerably good 
road, but mostly up hill, and with thick woods on each side 
of it, which obscured the view and prevented the circulation 



THE POSITION OF THE ENEMY. I'ii 

of air, we arrived about twelve o'clock at Plan del Rio (Tlie 
River of the Plain). At the entrance to the village, wo 
crossed a fine bridge of hewn stone, thrown over a broad 
and rapid, but shallow stream, with broken and precipitous 
banks, covered with a rich and luxuriant vegetation. The 
village, a wretched collection of huts, of similar construction 
to those at the National Bridge, was also deserted by its 
inhabitants. A party of lancers who were there when our 
advance guard, composed of a troop of dragoons, arrived, 
were very near being surprised and made piisoners. They 
had barely time to ride off pursued by our dragoons, with 
whom they exchanged a few shots, but owing to their horses 
being fresh, while our men's were tired with a long march, 
they soon increased the distance between them. These were 
an advanced piquet of the enemy, and we now knew that 
we were approaching close to their position. We encamped 
at the end of the village, and in the evening strong piquets 
were posted on the road in the direction of the enemy, ascer- 
tained to be only a few miles from Plan del Rio on the high- 
way to Jalapa, which ascended a steep hill near the bottom 
of which we were encamped. 

Our reconnoitring parties soon discovered that the enemy, 
who were in strong force, were in a position exceedingly well 
fortified, both by nature and art, to oppose our hitherto tri- 
umphant progress. On the highway to Jalapa, about four 
miles from Plan del Rio, the road enters a gorge between 
two heights, which the enemy had strongly fortified. About 
three quarters of a mile further, on the right-hand side of the 
road, rises the steep conical hill of Cerro Gordo, the key to 
the seemingly impregnable pass ; as, in the event of our suc- 
ceeding in forcing the other batteries, it, from its position and 
elevation, commanded both them and the intermediate road. 
This hill of Cerro Gordo, the Mexicans had also strongly 



1'74 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

fortified, and with the redoubtable Santa Anna commanding 
in person, and a force supposed to be at least fourteen or 
fifteen thousand strong, we all locked for some rather serious 
work, before luxuriating on the delicious fruits of Jalapa. 
To say that I felt no apprehension of personal danger at the 
prospect of an engagement likely to prove a severe one, 
would be ridiculous affectation ; as I believe no man, possess- 
ing a particle of reflection, ever contemplated a similar posi- 
tion with perfect indifference. Be that, however, as it may, 
it seemed sufficiently evident to me on the present occasion, 
as well as on subsequent ones of a similar kind, that on the 
night before the expected engagement the camp w^ore an air 
of stillness unusual at other times, the men generally appear- 
ing more thoughtful, and conver; iiig less, and in more sub- 
dued tones than usual. 

On the evening of the 13th, General Twiggs, w^ho, during 
the sickness of General Patterson, commanded the forces at 
Plan del Rio, after having spent two days in reconnoitring, 
gave the order for an attack on the enemy's batteries, which 
we were to take at the point of the bayonet by assault, early 
next morning. The bugle having sounded for the troops to 
assemble a little before sunset, the captains of companies 
addressed their men, informing them of the General's inten- 
tion, and explaining as much of the plan of the meditated 
attack as would tend to facilitate its execution. They con- 
cluded with a hope that all w^ould do their duty gallantly, 
and required us to give three cheers, an invitation which 
was very faintly responded to. The want of enthusiasm dis- 
played by the men, arose, I am persuaded, from a want of 
confidence in the judgment of General Twiggs, and not 
from any deficiency of the necessary pluck required for the 
occasion. But that General, though always admitted to be 
a brave old cavalry officer, was considered, from his peculiar 



THE COUNTERM,AND. lYS 

temperament, and previous^ school of education and disci- 
])line, to be tot^dly incapable of successfully directing an 
operation of such magnitude as the present, ■which any per- 
son might easily see required both military talent and skill. 
Perfectly aware of the enemy's overwhelming force, and the 
strong nature of his position, and also of the inconsiderate 
rashness of General Twiggs and his advisers, we felt that we 
were in danger of a defeat, or a victory purchased by a lavish 
and useless expenditure of life. And as we knew that General 
Scott with a division of the army was only two days in rear, 
no one could perceive the least necessity for either of these 
alternatives ; from either of them, however, we were fortu- 
nately saved. 

It coming to the ears of General Patterson that an attack 
was ordered next morning, he immediately resumed the 
connnand of the troops by having his name erased from the 
sick returns. He then issued an order countermanding that 
of General Twiggs, and stating that all active operations 
against the enemy's position were suspended until the arri- 
val of General Scott. This turn of affairs gave universal 
satisfaction, as General Scott deserved and possessed the 
confidence of both officers and men in the highest degree. 
We had received a pint of flour each .man for our next day's 
bread, the biscuit having all been consumed which we had 
brought with us ; and it was considered better to make cakes 
and toast them on the ashes, than to go without bread all 
next day. When the news of General Patterson's order 
came as late as 1 1 o'clock at night, various groups of anxious- 
looking faces might be seen by the flickering light of the 
bivouac fire, gloomily watching their unleavened cakes, and 
thinking bitterly of the morrow. The announcement pro- 
duced one of the most sudden illuminations of the human 
ooun+enance divino among these groups, which I ever recol 



176 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

lect to have seen : tlie cakes were either abandoned, o? 
carried away half baked, to be finished at some other oppor- 
tunity, and all retired to sleep, carrying the news to their 
dreaming comrades, that the attack was deferred until Scott 
came up. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Arriyal of General Scott — Ascent of the ravine — ^The charge — The 
loan of a pipe — Colonel Harney — General Pillow — Bill Crawford— 
Victory. 

On tlie 14tli about noon, greatly to tlie satisfaction of us all, 
General Scott arrived with the rear division. We now ex- 
pected that something would soon be done, and all seemed 
to feel a revival of confidence and anticipations of success. 
The gallant old General was loudly cheered on his arrival, 
and without waiting for rest or refreshment after his toilsome 
march, he immediately proceeded to reconnoitre the enemy's 
position. The result was the discovery of a ravine leading to 
the right of the enemy's batteries, by which it was resolved 
that the main attack should be made. At the bottom of this 
ravine was the celebrated hill of Cerro Gordo, of a conical 
form, and rising to a height of about two hundred feet from 
the plain. It had about a dozen brass guns, of small calibre, 
being principally six and nine pounders. Bounding the 
ravine on the left, there was another hill about as high as 
Cerro Gordo, the summits of the two hills being not more than 
half a mile distant. This hill, which General Scott deter- 
mined to possess, was only covered by a piquet of the ene- 
my, and could be easily obtained when required. 

The 15th and 16th were occupied in a strict scrutiny of the 
enemy's works, and in removing obstacles to the passage of 
guns, ammunition, and troops, by cutting the obstructing 
trees and bushes. This was done by the pioneers, protected 



178 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

by a strong skirmisliing party. On tlie evening of tlie 16tli 
we were ready for commencing serious operations. 

It was a beautiful niglit at Plan del Rio on the 16tli of 
April, 1847, and though on lying down to sleep one could 
see the lustrous stars shining in the blue canopy over head, 
yet we were in the " Tierres calientes " (the warm country), 
and one can sleep out of doors there very well in dry 
weather. Comfort, like everything else, has many degrees 
of comparison ; for two or three nights previous we had a 
little more rain than was agreeable, one advantage of which 
was, that we now actually enjoyed a good night. " Sweet 
are the uses of adversity." Most of us therefore slept soundly 
until roused next morning from our slumbers by the reveille, 
which sounded about half-past four o'clock. Having taken a 
gftod breakfast of our usual camp fare — biscuit, beef, and 
coffee — the last meal for many a poor fellow, we prepared 
for the march by falling into our places in the ranks. 

The division to which I belonged, consisting of about 3000 
infantry, had orders to proceed under the command of Gene- 
ral Twiggs, to take possession of the hill at the bottom of 
the ravine, and opposite Cerro Gordo, which General Scott 
had previously decided upon taking. It was covered by a 
piquet of the enemy whom we had orders to drive in, and 
retain the hill in possession, as upon it was considered to 
depend our best chance of success in our attack upon Cerro 
Gordo. 

Having stowed away our knapsacks in the waggons which 
were left behind in the camp, with the other two divisions, 
we began our march up the hill. We expected to be en- 
gaged in a slight skirmish with the enemy's piquets, but did 
not expect to get into the thick of a regular engagement 
until next day. Still a sort of chill was thrown over the 
spirits of most of the men ; jests which yesterday would have 



ASCENT OF THE RAVINE. 179 

elicited real's of applausive laughter, somehow seeined to 
hang fire this morning ; and one or two of our regimental 
wits being snubbed by meditative officers for talking in the 
ranks, gave their vocation up in disgust, and became as 
gloomy and as taciturn as the others. It was no great wonder 
either that the men were rather more reflective than usual, 
considering that very few of our number had ever been close in 
front of an enemy before, and we were approaching fortifica- 
tions which we should have to carry by assault, at whatever 
sacrifice of life. 

On coming to the head of the ravine, we were ordered to 
form in file, trail arms, and keep perfect silence, the stafi" and 
field officers dismounting and leading their horses. One of 
our men happening to stumble over a stone, and his musket 
making a loud clattering noise against his tin canteen, a cap- 
tain rushes up to him in the utmost fury, and bawls out loud 
enough to be heard along the whole line, "You infernal 
scoundrel, I'll run you through if you don't make less noise." 
As Blunderbore, for that was a sobriquet the men had con- 
ferred on the captain, stood flourishing his sword in a strik- 
ing and theatrical attitude, while the poor fellow seemed ter- 
rified lest he should put his threat into execution, the scene 
presented such a ludicrous aspect, that in spite of our prox- 
imity to the Mexican batteries, all of us within sight and 
hearing burst into a hearty and simultaneous laugh. 

Since 1 o'clock in the morning, when we first began to 
ascend the hill from Plan del Rio, we had only gained three 
or four miles, and it was now past noon. But we had moved 
very slowly, every now and then halting half an hour 
or so, while the lifles, as skirmishers, cautiously felt the way 
through the chaparral in advance. The regiment to which 
I belonged, the 1st Artillery, was at the head of the column ; 
we should therefore have the precedence in the series of mili* 



180 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

taiy balls about to be offered us by the Mexicans— a dis- 
tinction I dare say not much valued by ourselves, or greatly 
coveted by otliers ; the post of honour is sometimes the post 
of danger. 

It was about 2 o'clock when we heard a few musket shots 
in front, followed by the sharp crack of our rifles, who had 
got within range of the advanced line of piquets. We im- 
mediately got the word to close up, and move in quick time 
to the front, and in a few minutes we were at the bottom of 
the hill occupied by the enemy. " First Artillery and Rifles 
form into line, and charge up the hill," was the word of com- 
mand now given by General Twiggs. " I beg pardon. Ge- 
neral, how far shall we charge them ?" I heard one of our 
captains ask, as we hastily scrambled up. " Charge them to 
li — 11^" was the reply of the rough old veteran, who remained 
with the rest of the division at the bottom of the hill. The 
balls came whistling in no very pleasant manner as we made 
our way up the steep hill, helping ourselves occasionally by 
the branches of the bushes ; but the Mexicans are bad shots, 
and besides they were afraid to expose themselves by coming 
forward to take deliberate aim ; so that all their balls went 
whistling over our heads, doing us no damage whatever. In 
the meantime on we went, shouting and hurrahing as if we 
were going to some delightful entertainment, every one in a 
state of the highest excitement, and nearly out of breath 
with hurrahing and running up the steep hill, but at the 
same time disdaining to think of stopping to recover it. 

Before we reached the top of the hill, which we did with 
very trifling loss, the Mexicans quickly retreated down the 
opposite side of it, and now were experienced the bad effects 
of General Twiggs's expression, " Charge them to h — 11." Af- 
ter obtaining possession of the hill, our object, I suspect, 
should have been to retain it in possession with the least 



THE FIRE OF THE MEXICANS. 181 

possible amount of loss — General Scott having resolved to 
plant two twenty-four pounders on it during tlie nigiit, and 
to open a fire early next morning on the battery at Cerro 
Gordo, and upon that side of the hill which he intended we 
should carry by assault. The summit of the hill is nearly 
half a mile distant from that of Cerro Gordo, and they are 
separated by a deep and rugged ravine. Our men were ex- 
tended about half-a-mile along the face of the hill, firing 
upon the retreating Mexicans, with whom, in the eagerness 
of pursuit, we had become almost mixed up as we pursued 
them down the ravine. But when the enemy had got half- 
way up the opposite hill of Cerro Gordo, we saw the error we 
had committed in pursuing them, being now caught in a com- 
plete fix. 

To attempt to retreat up the hill in the face of the conti- 
nuous fire of some thousands of Mexican infantry, and that 
of their batteries, who now opened a crossfire (those to the 
left sweeping the side of the hill with round shot, and that 
of Cerro Gordo opposite pouring in volleys of grape and ca- 
nister), would have been instant and total destruction. We 
were forced to remain therefore under the cover of roots and 
trees, firing an occasional shot at the enemy only, who kept 
up an incessant, though fortunately for us a very ill-directed 
fire until near sunset. Indeed the loud and incessant roll of 
musketry all that afternoon, exceeded anything of the kind 
I ever heard. At length, towards sunset, the enemy seemed 
preparing for a grand charge ; there was a cessation of firing 
nearly ; we could observe their ofiicers forming their men 
into the ranks, and with colours displayed, and a band of 
music playing in front, they at last advanced towards our 
position, which at that moment seemed sufficiently perilous. 
"We had a small howitzer, of the kind called mountain how- 
itzers, from their peculiar convenience in mountain warfare, 



l82 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

for which tliey were expressly made ; being light, and easily 
dismounted and carried up a hill. This was prepared for 
their reception, being well loaded with grape, and we waited 
with some anxiety to see its effects. On they came till near 
the bottom of the ravine, and within two or three hundred 
yards of us, when the howitzer sent its murderous contents 
among: them. I never saw such sudden havoc and confu- 
sion caused by a single shot. It swept right into the head 
of the advancing column, killing and wounding a great num- 
ber of those in advance, among others several of the band, 
who ceased playing the moment the shot struck the column, 
which halted almost instantly. " Arrah, more .power to the 
hand that fired you, my jewel of a how-its-yure ; it's your- 
self sure that knows how to pay the piper ; that'll make you 
change your tune any how, you yellow pagans," cried Mickey 
Ryan. The Mexicans were thoroughly taken by surprise by 
tbis shot, and had quickly resolved not to risk another, for 
taking up their wounded they immediately began to retire to 
their former position. Except a straggling shot now and 
then, the firing on both sides soon ceased ; it was getting 
dusk, and our men began to make their way to the main 
body by circling round the hill. Parties were now sent out 
to search for and carry in the wounded ; but owing to the 
nature of the ground, and the darkness of the night, with a 
share of culpable neglect on the part of those whose duty it 
was to see the search more carefully prosecuted, I am afraid 
a number of the wounded perished, who might have recovered 
if they had been promptly attended to. I saw one poor fel- 
low brought in after' the battle next morning, who had been 
wounded and left on the field on the previous night, and 
who aflSrmed that there were groans of wounded men in all 
directions round him during the night. 

I was witness to an incident this afternoon during the ac 



RESULTS OF RELIGIOUS HATRED. 183 

tlon, -wliicli for the diabolical spirit displayed by one of its 
actors exceeds anything of the kind I ever saw. An orderly 
sergeant named Armstrong, having received a wound in some 
part of the body, sat down seemingly in great agony. Ont 
of the men belonging to his own company came over to 
where he was sitting, and asked him if he was wounded ; 
on his answering that he was, very badly, " Arrah, then may 
the devil cure ye, you black-hearted rascal," was the unfeel- 
ing rejoinder. The sergeant was not popular, and I believe 
his conduct was not calculated to inspire much sympathy for 
his misfortunes ; but the wretch who could thus triumph 
in his physical sufferings and agony, must have been a fiend, 
and his conduct was very severely reprobated and commented 
on by his comrades. This diabolical spirit was engendered, 
by what is singularly enough called religious hatred ; the 
sergeant having been an Orangeman, and the man addressing 
him a Roman Catholic. The sergeant died on the field that 
niglit, his watch and a purse containing some money, whicli 
he had on his person, were missing, and there were several 
bayonet wounds in his body. It was generally supposed that 
the Mexicans had killed and plundered him, as he had been 
left near their lines ; but some did not hesitate to express 
their suspicions of foul play, and plainly intimated their 
belief that some of his own company had killed and robbed 
him. 

When the action commenced, as we were scrambling up 
die hill, and while the balls were whistling rather thick in 
our vicinity, I felt a rather smart blow on the right temple. 
On the instant I imagined I had received a quietus, but a 
moment's reflection showed me that I was happily mistaken. 
The false alarm had arisen from the sudden recoil of a 
branch caused by a man a pace or two in advance, who was 
crushing through the brushwood, a branch of which in re- 



184 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

coiling had struck me on tlie temple. The impression onl) 
lasted for a second, but I shall not soon forget the singular, 
and by no means pleasant, sensation caused by this r.implo 
occurrence. 

Some men have blamed General Twiggs for leaving the 
remainder of the division inactive, while the small body sent 
to drive in the piquets were in such a dangerous predica- 
ment; but there I think he acted with good judgment. 
Had he engaged the whole division, he might have extricated 
the first party, but assuredly with a far greater sacrifice of 
life. Nothing but the paucity of our numbers, pai-adoxical as 
it may seem, saved us from a general slaughter on the 
occasion, enabling us to obtain the cover, of which a largo 
body could not have equally availed themselves. The great 
ftiult w^ich I, in common with all my comrades with whom 
I have conversed on the topic, think he committed, was 
that he did not give more explicit instructions to the officers 
in command of companies sent out on that occasion. Per- 
haps he did not clearly comprehend the instructions he had 
received from General Scott himself. At all events that a 
blunder had been made was evident, that it had cost us 
nearly two hundred men equally so, but no one thought of 
General Scott in connection with it. General Twiggs has 
all the credit of the first day of the battle of Cerro Gordo. 

It was now dark, with a slight rain, and amidst the groans 
of the suffering wounded, who were having their wounds 
dressed, and amputations performed until late at night, the 
most smooth and soft piece of turf having been selected for 
their accommodation, tired and weary, we lay down to seek 
repose, and recruit our strength for the struggle of next 
morning. I had the bad fortune to be on a piece of ground 
which was full of small stones, but as we were ordered to 
keep our places as if in the ranks, in case of a night attack, 



THE LOAN OF A PIPE. 185 

I could not better it by sliifting my ground. Still I manag- 
ed to pick up a considerable number of them, and at last I 
found that it was somewhat more endurable. There was not 
much conversation amongst us this night, but taking a few 
mouthfuls of biscuit, a drink of water, and a smoke, we 
made ourselves as comfortable as, under the circumstances, 
was possible. As tending to show the effect of hardship 
and danger in blunting that feeling of subservient humility 
usually shown by the private soldier to his oflBcer, I recollect 
an incident that occurred in the vicinity of where I was 
lying. One of our lieutenants sent a sergeant to a man of 
the name of Rielly whom he saw smoking, with a request 
for a smoke of his pipe. " Arrah, sweet, is your hand in a 
pitcher of honey, my jewel ?" said Rielly ; " the lieutenant is 
mighty condescending. May be you would be pleased, 
sergeant, to inform the lieutenant, along with Rielly's com- 
2)liments, that if he will wait till Rielly has his own smoke — ■ 
may the holy Virgin be near us, may be it's the last smoko 
ever the same Rielly will take — and tell Mickey Ryan, who 
axed the pipe afore him, has had a turn of it, I'll not be agin 
lending him the pipe." " Faith ye hae sent the sergeant aff 
wi' a flea in his lug," said a broad-spoken countryman of mine 
of the name of Findlay. " Bad luck to the impidence of the 
rapscallions, sure it's a gag they would be after putting in 
my mouth in the place of a pipe, if I was to ask one of them- 
selves for a loan of the same thing," was the rejoinder of 
Teddy Rielly. 

There was no disguising the fact that we had an ugly job 
before us next morning ; but we had strong ground for hope 
in the positive cowardice of the Mexicans, our own compara- 
tive courage, and the superlative skill of General Scott. 
Besides, we had come through the baptism of fii*e that day, 



18G ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

and were still unhurt, and perhaps we should ])e equally 
fortunate the next. 

Daring the night, while we slept, the guns (two twenty- 
four pounders, with a complement of ammunition) had with 
incredible exertions been got to the summit of the hill, and 
placed in position for opening upon Cerro Gordo next morn- 
ing. A temporary breastwork of stones and earth, capable 
of aftbrding considerable protection to the men who would 
work them, had also been thrown up. I sU'pt luost uneasily 
all night, being cold and sore with lying on the stones ; 
we had left our blankets and great-coats in the baggage 
waATiTons, and it had rained a little. I was not sorry there- 
fore that when day broke, we immediately fell into the 
ranks, and began to ascend the hill. ' Motion is highly desir- 
able to promote circulation and supple the joints after a 
rather cold night on the ground, (as I frequently had au 
opportunity of remarking while in Mexico,) and before we 
were half way up the hill I began to feel rather more com- 
fortable. As we marched by a circuitous path, some of us 
turned occasionally to admire the appearance of the sky, 
which was tinted with a surpassing brilliance by the rising 
sun, while spread out beneath us, as far as the eye could 
reach, was some of the most picturesque and romantic 
scenery imaginable. But we were soon recalled to another 
sort of contemplation. A shot from the enemy's batteries, 
who had now caught a glimpse of us, followed by another 
and another in quick succession, soon dispelled any disposi- 
tion to sentimentalize which we might have previously 
entertained. And having been cautioned to close up and 
quicken our steps, in a few minutes we gained the position 
we were to occupy, until the signal should be given for the 
charge. 



THE CRISIS OF THE ACTION. 187 

There was a slight hollow in the top of the hill near 
where our twenty-four pounders were placed, and opposite 
Cerro Gordo ; this was the position we ought to have main- 
tained on the previous afternoon in place of following the 
Mexicans so rashly. In this hollow the rifles, a regiment of 
infantry, and our regiment, were ordered to lie down on tlie 
grass, in which position we were completely sheltered from 
the fire of the enemy's batteries. While lying thus, we could 
watch the effects of the grape shot passing a few feet above 
us, with its peculiar harsh and bitter whistle, to the opposite 
bank, where the saplings and branches crashed, under the 
withering influence of these unseen messengers, as if by 
ma"-ic. But soon our 24-pounders opened on the Mexicans 
with most terrible effect, as they were in a dense mass on the 
top of the opposite hill, where some thousands of infantry 
were crowded, to repel our anticipated assault. We now 
received orders to prepare for a charge. While the rifles 
were forming in the bottom of the hollow, one end of their 
line had incautiously gone a little way up on the opposite 
bank, or side of the hill. A shower of grape, that killed and 
wounded at least a dozen of their number, v/as the result of 
this exposure, and a volley of oaths from Colonel Harney, at 
the stupidity of the officer who had formed them in that 
position, seemed to grate as harshly on one's ears as the mis- 
siles showering over us. 

While this was going on, a division of volunteers under 
General Pillow, had assaulted the batteries on our left, but 
were repulsed with considerable loss. General Shields being 
amongst the severely wounded. The moment had now 
arrived when we were to face the horizontal shower which 
for the last hour and a half had been flying almost harmless 
over us. But the twenty-four pounders had done wonders, 
and Cerro Gordo was getting rather thinned of infantry by 



188 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

tlie i:)anic created by tlieir deadly discliarges. The activity 
of the Mexican artillery was also rather slackened, they were 
evidently getting paralysed, and discouraged, at seeing the 
eftects of our shots. Now was the time for the charge, and 
pausing for a few breathless moments till the next shower of 
grape hurtled over us, the bugle sounded the charge, and 
with a loud hurrah we leaped and tumbled down the ravine, 
opposite the enemy's battery of Cerro Gordo. 

A brisk fire of infantry opened upon us as we descended, 
and a few of our number dropped by the way ; but we were 
in too great a hurry to stay and assist, or sympathize with 
wounded men just at that time. Bill Crawford, a Scotchman, 
and an old British soldier, with whom I had become 
acquainted at Vera Cruz, was going down the hill with me ; 
we were within a few yards of each other, when recognising 
me he called out, " Ha ! Geordie man, boo are ye this morn- 
ing, this is gey hot wark, how d'ye like this ! Faith, Geor- 
die ; I doubt they've hit me," he continued, as he sat down 
behind a rock, a musket ball having entered the calf of his 
leg. I asked him if he was badly hurt. " I've gotten a scart 
that'll keep me frae gaun on ; but gudesake, man, dinna mind 
me, I've shelter here ; an I ken ye'll no like to be the last o' 
gaun up the hill." I had just jumped down four or five feet, 
when a rattle of grape that splintered a ledge of rock where 
I had stood while talking to Bill, showed me the danger of 
delay. "Ah, Geordie, a miss is as gude as a mile; gude 
bye, tak tent o' yoursel ; tell our folk where I'm sitting, when 
it's ower," cried the hearty old fellow, who had come thi'ough 
the Peninsula and Waterloo, unhurt, to be wounded in this 
shabby affair, as I afterwards heard him express himself. It 
was not long before I reached the bottom of the hill. 

On arriving there, both men and oflficers paused, but only 
for a few seconds, to recover breath. Here, feeling my havre- 



THE VICTOIIY, 189 

sac, containing biscuit and other articles, an incumbrance, I 
took it oft" and tlirew it down at the foot of a hirge rock, 
intending to call again for it if I could find an opportunity 
after the action. We then began to climb the liill, which 
was very steep, but being rocky, and covered with brushwood 
for about two-thirds of the way, the enemy's musket balls 
passed quite harmlessly over us until near the top. When 
we arrived at the summit, a hundred or two of the Mexican 
infantry posted behind a breastwork of large stones, checked 
our advance for three or four minutes, until seeing us rein- 
forced by a number of infantry coming up the hill cheering, 
tliey threw their muskets down, and scampered in the utmost 
confusion down the opposite side of the hill. Several of the 
enemy's guns were now manned, and fired on the retreating 
enemy, a disordered mass, running with panic speed down 
the hill, and along the road to Jalapa. The battle was now 
won ; the other two forts, that a short time before had re- 
]Hilsed the volunteers, seeing the fate of Cerro Gordo, imme- 
diately pulled down their flag and hoisted a white one. 
They made an unconditional surrender, and the garrisons 
were marched out of the batteries to the road, without arms, 
to the amount of about 8000 ; they were employed to dig 
l)its for the interment of the dead, and were afterwards per- 
mitted to go to their homes, on promising not to take up 
arms against the United States during the existing war. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

After the battle — The woimded — Mexican surgeons — The litter of 
dead — An unexpected regale. 

General Scott was much censured by tbe men for releasing 
the prisoners taken at Cerro Gordo on the terms he did. It 
was argued that though he had no provisions, yet the road 
being open to Vera Cruz, a few hundred dragoons might 
have marched them back to that garrison, where supplies 
were plentiful, while the garrison left there would have been 
quite adequate to take charge of the prisoners. It certainly 
did seem rather questionable policy, as whatever were the 
faults of the Mexicans as soldiers, they were tolerable artille- 
rists, and when inside of one of their formidable batteries, 
the only position seemingly in which they would fight, tliey 
did us a good deal of damage before we succeeded in dis- 
lodging them. Now if he had kept these prisoners, it was 
evident that they would either have had to man their batte- 
ries with inferior men, in which case our army would have 
suffered less in the subsequent engagements ; or wanting the 
assistance of those prisoners they might have been more 
inclined to come to terms. The letting them go, however, 
was not disapproved of by the Government, though among 
the soldiers of our regiment it was generally condemned 
when talking over the policy of the campaign. 

We had now leisure to reflect upon our good foi-tune in 
having succeeded so much more easily than we anticipated 
in our hazardous assault, and I thought I perceived a moisture 



GENERAL SCOTT. 191 

glistening* in the eyes, and an imusual tremor affecting the 
voice of many brave soldiers, as they shook hands and con- 
gratulated each other on their mutual safety. Shortly after- 
Avards General Scott with a few of his staff came riding up, 
and shaking hands with all who approached, congratulated 
them warmly on the victory. A number of the men and offi- 
cers having crowded round him, he made a short and affecting 
speech, as near as I can recollect in the following words: 
— " Brother soldiers, I am proud to call you brothers, and 
your country will be proud to hear of your conduct this day. 
Our victory has cost us the lives of a number of brave men, 
but they died fighting for the honour of their country. 
Soldiers, you have a claim on my gratitude for your conduct 
this day, which I will never forget." During the delivery of 
this short address he was on horseback, and held his hat in 
his hand. He was very much affected, and tears rolled over 
the furrowed cheeks of the majestic old hero, the sight of 
which caused sympathetic drops to start to the eyes of 
many a rough and weather-beaten countenance, " albeit un- 
used to the melting mood." At the conclusion, he was 
enthusiastically cheered, when he slowly rode oft', bowing, 
and waving his hat. 

Parties of the men were now despatched in all directions, 
to search for and bring in the wounded. A number of the 
men also set out in small parties to explore for water ; as 
the morning being very hot, most of the men were suffering 
exceedingly from thirst. The wounded as they were brought 
in were attended to as well as under the circumstances could 
be expected, amputations being performed, and the most 
ui-gent and dangerous cases attended to first. One or two 
Mexican surgeons also made their appearance, and proceeded 
with much apparent skill to dress and bandage the wounds 
of their unfortunate countrymen, in which they were assisted 



192 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

by our surgeons, after they had dressed all their own 
wounded. These Mexican surgeons are reputed to be very 
skilful in the treatment of wounds, which seems likely 
enough ; as there is probably no country in the world, if we 
except Texas, or California, where so large an amount of 
practice may be found in curing wounds of all the shooting 
and stabbing varieties. Be that as it may, however, it was 
currently reported that General Shields owed his life to the 
skill and care of a Mexican surgeon, who undertook and 
completed his cure after his wound had been pronounced 
mortal by those of our surgeons who examined it. Our 
wounded being supplied with blankets, and a sufficient num- 
ber of men being appointed to attend on them, they were 
placed under a temporary shed which at least screened them 
from the scorching rays of the sun. Next day they were 
removed to Jalapa, where a large convent near the Plaza was 
appropriated to their use as a hospital. 

In this engagement the American loss was between 500 
and 600 in killed and wounded, and the Mexicans lost pro- 
bably fully as many. Between 200 and 300 bodies of dead 
Mexicans were collected on the field, principally on the hill 
of Cerro Gord^and a great many were killed by our dra- 
goons and ligt^Htillery, who pursued them on the Jalapa 
road. Some of . our men obtained considerable sums of 
money after the battle was over, by searching the clothes of 
the dead ; but though the practice may be in accordance 
with the usages of war, there always seemed something so 
revolting to the feelings in it, that I could never think of 
trying that mode of recruiting my finances, though suftbring 
a little sometimes from a deficiency of the exchequer. Nei- 
ther was I the least singular in this respect, as I learned 
afterwards ; the feeling being quite general amongst the 
men, more especially amongst the Irish, who had a supersti- 



THE MEXICAN DEAD. 193 

tious horror at the idea of rifling a dead body, believing that 
it would be sure to call down a judgment on those who 
would do it, in a future engagement. 

Several bodies of Mexican officers who had been killed 
while defending the hill, lay here, one of which was said to 
be that of a General who had been allowed to go on parole 
with the rest of the garrison from Vera Cruz when it capitu- 
lated. He was near the stockades, as if he had fallen while 
in advanced position, encouraging the soldiers by his exam- 
ple. One of our men had taken off his boots ; the scoundrel, 
I am sure, would not be able to wear them, as the officer's 
feet, on which he had fine white stockings, were remarkably 
small. His hands too were very small and delicately formed, 
so much so as to cause remark by almost all who looked at 
the body. He was an old grey-headed man, seemingly 
about sixty years of age, of a rather slight though active 
make ; and there was something noble in the expression of 
Ids countenance, which was calm and placid, as if he had 
died without pain. He was wounded with musket balls in 
two or three places of the body, and as he lay " with his 
face to the sky, and his feet to the foe," I could not help 
feeling a mingled thrill of admiration and pit^at the fate of 
the brave old hero. ^ 

There was another Mexican officer breathing his last, near 
a small stone building which the Mexicans had used for a 
magazine, and on which they had a flag when we carried the 
hill. He was wounded in the breast with a musket-shot, 
and blood was oozing from his mouth. He was a large, 
stout-bodied man, and from the indications of Indian blood 
in his colour was evidently a Mexican, and not a pure Casti- 
lian like the other. A letter taken from his pocket contained 
his commission, dated only a few weeks before, and signed 
by Santa- Anna, by which it appeared that he was Diego 

9 



1P4 APVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

Martinez, Capitan de Infanferia, He wore a gold chain 
about his neok, to ^vhich was attached a miniature picture 
of a verv fine-looking child ; we could trace no resemblance 
in the child's countenance to his, but then his features ^Yere 
distorted bv pain. Poor fellow, if many of the Mexican 
officers had imitated his example. I believe we should not 
have won the battle of Cerro Gimio so easily. 

We now beiran to suffer from the cravings of hunger and 
thirst : few of the men had eaten anything that morning, in 
fact many of them had nothing to eat, and water could not 
be obtained even for the wounded, who felt a perpetual crav- 
insT for it. I was therefore very glad when the adjutant 
cominiT np to where a group of us were standing, asked mo 
if I thouoht I could find my way to where we had bivouacked 
on the pre\'ious night. It occurred to me that this would 
be a £:<>od chance to find some water : on my way I should 
also p:\ss where I had left mv havresac at the foot of the 
hill, and where Bill Crawford was wounded, and 1 should 
see whether he had been taken care of. I therefore told 
him I could find my way there easily. He then gave me a 
message? to his servant, whom he had left behind with two 
horses in chi^M^, his own and the colonel's, directing him to 
brincj them i^ffld by the ^■illage, and wait with them at the 
bottom of the hill, as the regiment would march down in a 
short time. I started on my mission, and had little diliiculty 
in finding mv havresac : it lay in the position in v»-hich I 
had left it, nearly covered up with the long grass. I was 
verv orjad to see it, and picking it up I threw it over my 
shoulders, and pursued, my journey. I soon came to the 
place where Crawford was wounded, but he was not there, 
so I was satisfied that he had been taken care of. I pass^ 
the dead bodies of a great many who had been killed the 
day before, both Americans and Mexicans, though piinc** 



SEASONABLE REFRESHMENT. 195 

pally the latter. They presented a shocking spectacle ; these 
ghastly corpses but yesterday were as full of life and anima- 
tion as I was at that moment, and now there they lay with 
their features distorted and blackenino; in the sun. I felt a 
sickening loathing at the idea of these human sacrifices, 
these offerings to Mai"s, which the poet and the historian 
difiTiifr with the titles of glorious %-ictories, and I cui-sed in 
my heart the infatuation which had linked me to the inhu- 
man profession of a soldier. 

I soon foimd the groom of the horses ; he was an old grey- 
headed man, a countryman of mine, named Da\*id Gourley, 
and one of the finest old fellows in the regiment. After 
communicating my messaire, I ffot an invitation fi-om him to 
take a little breakfast before starting, and I could have the 
adjutant's horse, he said, to ride to the bottom of the hill. 
I very gladly accepted both of these offers, feeling tired and 
faint : the excitement of the previotis afternoon and that 
morning, with himger and thirst, made me feel a strong 
inclination to lie down under a tree and enjoy a sound sleep. 
Obser\-ing my appearance of weariness, Gourley pulled out 
a fiask ft'om his havresac, which, ha^^ng tasted, he handed 
to me, recommending it as a sovereign cure for lowness of 
spirits. I took a moiuhful or two fi'om the fiask, which I 
foimd contained some excellent brandy, and felt immediate 
benefit fi'om the in\-igorating cordial. " Ay, ay,'' said Goiu-- 
lev, as I handed it back to him, " ye'll come roun' bye and 
bye ; Lord, man, ye glowred as if ye had seen a warlock a 
wee sin' ; faith a mouthlV o* that might be excused to a 
teetotaller on a morning like this. An' hoo did ye like ye'r 
race up the hill this morning, Geordie ?" he continued; "faith, 
there's mony a braw fallow that'll never turn up a wee finger 
again, that got up this morning as well as you or I." I told 
him of several men who were killed and wounded whom he 



196 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

knew, and mentioned Billy Crawford. He said he had seen 
him ; that he had got his leg dressed, and had been conveyed 
along with some others of the wounded to Plan del Rio, 
Having displayed his provisions, which consisted of some 
biscuit, and a few slices of fried beef, to which was added 
the luxury of a canteen of good water, I assisted my honest 
old friend to dispatch a most excellent breakfast, and having 
taken another mouthful of brandy, I felt like a new being. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Santa Anna's leg — Distribution of spirits — Colonel Childs — Interring 
the dead — March to Jalapa. 

Mounting the horses, we proceeded down the ravine to a 
small village on the road to Jalapa, and about a mile from 
Cerro Gordo. This was the place where Santa Anna had his 
head-quarters for several days previous to the action. The 
Mexicans say he was the cause of their disgraceful conduct 
on that occasion ; as he left precipitately an hour before the 
storming of Cerro Gordo, by his example so discouraging 
the officers and men — that they soon after broke and ran, 
believing the battle lost — when they heard that he had gone. 
It was commonly said and believed by our men, that in his 
hurry to be off he had left his wooden leg behind, and that 
it was preserved and sent home to the States as a trophy. 
As Santa Anna wears a corh leg, I think it is probable that 
the wooden leg found there must have belonged to some less 
illustrious personage. But the story was turned to good ac- 
count by several enterprising Yankees, wlio for some months 
after continued to exhibit veritable wooden legs of " Santa 
Anna " through the towns and cities of the States, with great 
success, making a pretty considerable speculation of it. A 
more important prize consisted of several chests, or boxes, 
containing upwards of a hundred thousand silver doIlai-«. 
One of the soldiers who first discovered it, had succeeded in 
breaking open one of the chests, and a few of the first comere 
had helped themselves to a pocketful, when an officer hap 



198 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

pened to arrive, who put a stop to further proceedings, by 
placing it under a secure guard, and reporting the seizure to 
General Scott. 

On arriving at the village, we found it full of our infantry, 
our whole army nearly being drawn up in column, waiting 
the order to march. The Mexican troops having left their 
provisions behind, most of our men got some refreshment 
here, of which the poor fellows stood much in need. But a 
number of the small shops in the village having been sup- 
plied with aquadiente, for the purpose of retailing it to the 
soldiers of the Mexican army, there was a danger of our men 
getting drunk. To prevent this, the aquadiente was very 
properly ordered to be spilt, and I saw several barrels of it 
emptied upon the road, an officer standing by to see it effec- 
tually done. We also passed some companies where the 
officers were superintending the distribution of a portion of 
it, by seeing the sergeant serve the men with a glass of it in 
succession ; this was a most judicious proceeding, which I 
am sure the men would appreciate. If officers were more 
generally aware what a large return of popularity they might 
secure among their men by ministering to the wants and 
comfort of those under their charge, I believe it would do 
much towards improving the condition of the army. 

But in spite of every precaution, a number of the men I 
could see had got their canteens filled with the liquor, which 
had cost them nothing ; all the houses in the village 
being robbed of their supplies of provisions and liquor in a 
very short time. A jolly fellow, belonging to an infantry 
regiment, came up to Gourley and me, and asked if we 
would drink the health of General Scott, handing us his 
canteen, which was full of aquadiente. We tasted his liquor, 
which was very fiery and unpalatable, when he very gene- 
rously gave us a few tortillas^ thin cakes made of Indian corn 



A FEMALE FOUND AMONG THE DEAD. 199 

meal, and a piece of cheese, of which commodities he had a 
havresac nearly full. He advised us to dismount and have 
our canteens filled with the aquadiente, offering to show us 
where we could get it ; but not wishing to quit our horses, 
for fear of losing them in the crowd, and the liquor, to judge 
from the specimen we had just tasted, not being very palata- 
ble, we declined his invitation. 

After leaving the village, and as we passed on to the bot- 
tom of the hill of Cerro Gordo, we found the road strewed 
with the muskets and bayonets which the Mexicans had 
thrown away in their hasty retreat. These muskets were all 
of British manufacture, and had the Toiver mark on their 
locks ; but they were old and worn out, having evidently 
been condemned as unserviceable in the British army, and 
then sold to the Mexicans at a low price. Undoubtedly they 
were good enough for soldiers like the Mexicans, who gene- 
rally throw them away on their retreat, but after examining 
a few of them I came to the conclusion that for efficient ser- 
vice one of our muskets was equal to at least three of them. 
Some thousands of these muskets were collected and de- 
stroyed, and the guns taken at the different forts were also 
burst and rendered unfit for use, by the men left behind for 
that purpose under the direction of an engineer officer. A 
great number of dead Mexicans, whose bodies had been col- 
lected for the purpose of interment, lay at the bottom of the 
hill. Among these we observed the body of a young and 
handsome though coarsely attired female, apparently not 
more than eighteen years of age. She had been the wife of 
one of the soldiers, and had stayed with him during the ac- 
tion. Perhaps they were newly married, and had been spend- 
ing their honeymoon amid the horrid din of war. One 
could scarcely help wondering which among that group of 
ghastly corpses had been her husband. For among them he 



200 ADVENTURES Oi A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

must be ; it were impossible to picture him flying on the 
road to Jalapa, and leaving behind the bleeding corpse of 
his young and beautiful bride. The wives of the Mexican 
soldiers are in the habit of following the army, and sharing 
in the fatigues and dangers of a campaign, and there were 
several of them among the killed and wounded, both at this 
and at subsequent engagements. I was told of one woman 
who was wounded in the leg at this battle, who displayed a 
great deal of reluctance in allowing our surgeon to examine 
and dress the Avound, though such extreme feelings of mo- 
desty, I am bound to acknowledge, are exceedingly rare 
among; the women of the lower classes in Mexico. 

Leaving Gourley at the bottom of the hill with the horses, 
I now proceeded to inform the adjutant that I had performed 
my mission. I found him seated on the ground, with Colonel 
Childs and several of the officers, and was proceeding to 
make my statement, when the colonel, interrupting me, ex- 
claimed, " But where are the horses ?" I told him I had got 
instructions from the adjutant to leave them at the bottom 
of the hill. The adjutant confirmed my statement, and ap- 
peared to think I had done very well : but still the colonel 
continued to mutter his dissatisfaction at my liaving obeyed 
the instructions too literally. I inwaully smiled at the un- 
reasonable humour of the colonel, but at times like the pre- 
sent, when human life seems of about as much value as an 
old shoe, the humours of your big men seem mere trivialities ; 
and luckily for my equanimity, just at that time, I felt a most 
sovereign contempt for the good or bad opinion of breathing 
mortal, myself excepted. Besides having satisfactorily 
obeyed my instructions, I i.ad made an excellent breakfast, 
and found my havresac. With these results I felt very 
well satisfied ; and if the colonel was not pleased, why, he 
might whistle on his thumb. 



UNCLEANLINESS OF THE MEXICANS. 201 

About two or three o'clock our regiment was directed to 
join the main body of the army, which had received orders 
to proceed towards Jalapa. According to instructions, one 
company of our regiment was left to assist in the interment 
of the dead, and the destruction of the guns and ammuni- 
tion not considered requisite for the use of our own army. 
The regiment then descended the hill of Cerro Gordo, and 
having taken its place in the column, we were soon marching 
along the highway to Jalapa. A great quantity of clothing 
abandoned by the Mexicans strewed the road, and as many of 
our men had neither great-coat nor blanket, having left 
them in the baggage waggons at Plan del Rio, they eagerly 
appropriated those which the Mexicans had thrown away. 
But they soon discovered that they had made a most misera- 
ble prize, few or none of these clothes being wholly free 
from a tormenting and disgusting species of vermin to which 
the Mexicans seem universally accustomed and reconciled. 
Most of the men, on discovering the condition of these 
clothes, threw them away, but a number retained possession 
of some of them ; and from that period until after we entered 
the city of Mexico, even those most scrupulously attentive 
to personal cleanliness could not wholly divest themselves 
from that most annoying and detestable of the plagues of 
Egypt. After entering the city, we were supplied with new 
clothing, and being in tolerable quarters, and furnished with 
a plentiful supply of soap and clean water, we succeeded 
after a time in eradicating the abominable pest. We only 
marched about eight miles that evening, bivouacking on the 
grass plats that stretched along on each side of the road. A 
small stream of clear water which the Mexicans had con- 
ducted a distance of ten miles, by cutting a channel for it 
along the edge of the road, to supply the garrison at Cerro 

9* 



202 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

Gordo, supplied our evening beverage, and as we were tirec? 
with the excitement and fatigues of the day, we were soor 
folded in the arms of Morpheus. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Santa Anna's house — Aspect of the country — ^The ladies of Jalapa— 
A Mexican funeral — Description of the city — The priesthood- 
Procession of the Host — Paying the troops. 

Roused from our sound slumbers by the bugle at daybreak 
next morning, we were soon on our march again for Jalapa. 
After marching a few miles we came to Encerro, the favour- 
ite residence of Santa Anna, who owns a large and fertile 
tract in that neisflibourhood. The house in. which he had 
formerly lived — called by our men Santa Annans House — 
is a large plain building on the side of a hill, about a mile 
from the road, and on the left hand going to Jalapa. Its 
situation is admirable, the view of the surrounding country 
being of the most delightful character, wooded mountains 
and grassy plain stretching away as far as the eye can reach. 
But water, that principal auxiliary to fine landscape scenery, 
it lacks in common with most Mexican scenery. True, a 
rivulet crosses the highway at Encerro about the size of a 
Scotch burn, which leaps and tumbles in a series of sparkling 
cascades down a romantic and deep rocky glen on the right 
hand ; but any rivulet or sheet of water large enough to give 
a tone to the extended landscape, one may look for in vain 
in that portion of the country that lies between Vera Cruz 
and the city of Mexico. 

We experienced no interruption from the Mexicans on our 
march ; indeed it would have been strange if we had, con- 
sidering their contemptible defence of Cerro Gordo. Tha 



204 ADVENTURES Ot A SOLBIER IN MEXICO. 

appearance of the country as we approaclied within a few 
miles of Jahipa, seemed one continuous garden, teeming 
with the richest hixuriance of tropical vegetation. The 
mountain of Orizjiba, with its dazzling white and clear cold 
summit piercing the blue cerulean, seemed within a few 
miles of us, though in reality we were about twenty-five 
miles distant. This effect was produced by the remarkable 
purity and clearness of the atmosphere, and the sun shining 
upon the snow with w^hich it is always covered. The town 
of Jalapa is four thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
and is situated on the side of a hill. It is embraced by an 
amphitheatre of wooded mountains, which rise immediately 
behind it to the height of several thousand feet ; but in front, 
looking towards Vera Cruz, there is an open view of the sea 
coast, and in fine clear weather the ships may be seen in the 
liarbour at Vera Cruz with an ordinary spy-glass. 

As we entered Jalapa, the windows and balconies were 
crowded with females, white, yellow, and brown ; the youth- 
ful and fair portion of whom, we were quite willing to 
imagine, surveyed our appearance with sparkling glances of 
admiration and applause. xVs for the spiteful and vindictive 
looks of the old and the ugly, why that was perfectly natural. 
Old age and ugliness in Mexico are the firm allies of bigotry 
and superstition, and we were no ftivourites with holy mother 
church, who would willingly liave consigned the whole tribe 
of heretico-Ainericanos to a far hotter climate than Mexico. 

We marched through some of the principal streets by a 
circuitous route to the barracks which the Mexican soldiers 
had formerly occupied, a large substantial building, the 
apartments of which were excessively dirty. Several regi- 
ments of infiintiy, with the Rifles and Ist Artillery, were 
crowded into these quarters, which were too small to contain 
one half of them with anything like comfort : and at night 



MORTALITY AMONG THE VOLUNTEERS. 205 

niany of the ineii Lrou^lit out their blankets, and lay down 
on the cold paving stones in the open square, in preference 
to sleeping inside. Indeed, it was exceedingly disagreeable 
to sleep in these rooms, as they were utterly dark, and the 
floor being completely covered with men lying rolled up in 
their blankets, if one got up in the night time and tried to 
reach the door, he was sure to stumble over and awake some 
of \m sleeping comrades. A number of the men who lay 
there had also received sligkt wounds, and when any person 
ha|)pcned to touch one of them the cursing and swearing 
that usually ensued, awoke all in the room. But as wo 
were now four thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
having left the tierra caliente at least a day's march behind 
us, this exposure to the cold and damp night air gave colds 
and other diseases to many of those who slept in tlie square, 
some of which terminated fatally. The volunteers were 
marched to a camp-ground about three miles from town, 
where in consequence of the heavy rains at night, which 
had then set in, and having no tents along with them, their 
condition was most deplorable. A great deal of sickness and 
mortality immediately ensued among the volunteers — the 
natural and inevitable consequence of this unfortunate pre- 
dicament, which severely shook the hardiest of the half 
horse and half alligator breed, and made short work with 
those whose constitutions were of merely human organization. 
The desire of General Scott to conciliate the inhabitants of 
Jalapa, who, though friendly to the Americans, yet dreaded 
the presence of a large body of volunteers in the town, was 
the cause commonly assigned for the arrangement by 
which the volunteers were sent out to the camp. But I 
think a sufliciently obvious cause was the absence of build- 
ings in the town capable of containing both them and us ; 
seeing which, I suspect, there could be little hesitation about 



206 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

which of the two parties it was proper to send away, and 
which to retain as a garrison. A few days after our arrival, 
there was a proper arrangement of the troops, and they 
were distributed to different parts of the town. Our regi- 
ment found quarters in a large building at the corner of the 
Plaza Nacional. 

About a week after our arrival I was sent, with a party of 
men, to dig graves for six of our own deceased comrades, who 
had died in consequence of wounds received in the late action 
at Cerro Gordo. In digging these graves we remarked, though 
we dug up a number of skulls and bones of the human skele- 
ton, that there was not a fragment of a coffin visible. From this 
circumstance we inferred that the poorer classes, in this part 
of Mexico, dispense with coffins in burying their dead. This, 
I have since heard, is the case, and the funeral of a Mexican 
child which we met shortly after we left the burying-ground, 
tends to confirm the opinion. The corpse of the child was laid 
upon a board which a Mexican peasant carried in his hand. 
Its feet and hands were tied with ribbons, the hands joined 
over the breast, and pointing upwards in the attitude of prayer. 
Its hair was interwoven with flowers, with which also the body 
was profusely decorated. The whole of the funeral party con- 
sisted of the bearer and two women who accompanied him. 

Soon after our arrival in Jalapa the mortality among the 
troops increased to a frightful extent, and the obvious fact 
that all was not done, that under the circumstance could 
have been done, for the comfort and alleviation of the suft'er- 
ings of the sick, rendered the condition of the hospital a pain- 
ful subject of reflection to those whose constitutions had yet 
resisted the approach of disease. Some allowance must bo 
made for the imperfect state of order inseparable from a cam- 
paign, but after every liberal deduction that charity can 
suggest, there will still remain a large amount of blame to 



DISGRACEFUL STATE OF THE HOSPITAL. 207 

be awarded some where for the state of things then existing 
in the liospital at Jalapa. I passed through it several times, 
having been sent there on various duties, and the scenes 
which I saw there gave me the most painful and shocking 
impressions of any which I observed during the whole cam- 
paign. Sick men, some of whom were wounded, and others 
wasted to skeletons with diarrhoea, and in the last stage of 
illness, lay on a thin piece of matting or a dirty doubled-up 
blanket, on the cold and hard brick floor. Many of them 
had on shirts which they had evidently worn for weeks, and 
I was told by some of the patients that nearly all of them 
were infested with vermin. Their diet was bread and coffee, 
which few of them could eat ; indeed a more unsuitable diet 
could scarcely have been chosen. I should be sorry to 
attach blame .to any person in particular for this notoriously 
bad management, but I can scarce help thinking, that as a 
considerable sum of money had been seized at Cerro Gordo, 
a large portion of it might have been very beneficially em- 
ployed in remedying these evils. At least clean and com- 
fortable bedding might have been furnished to the patients, 
who might also have had their linen washed. There was 
abundance of soap and water in Jalapa, and hundreds of poor 
women who would have been very glad of the employment. It 
seems strange that such an idea never suggested itself to any 
person competent to have it carried into eff*ect. I know that 
among the soldiers of our company, who discussed the matter 
frequently, the remedy always appeared as simple and easy 
of execution as desirable. 

The town of Jalapa, from which (by the by) the medicinal 
plant jalapa^ which grows extensively in that district, takes 
its name, is an exceedingly pleasing specimen of a Mexican 
town. Besides the natural advantages of the rich soil and 
fine climate of the neighbourhood, and its admirably pictu 



208 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

resque situation, there is an air of cleanliness, industry, and 
comfort about tlie poorer classes of the inh.-ibitants, both in 
their personal appearance and in that of their houses, rather 
unusual to see in Mexico. The houses are mostly one story, 
and at most two stories high, and their thick walls, built of 
stone, are nicely white-washed, contrasting beautifully with 
the deep verdure of tlie luxurinnt vegetation everywhere seen. 
Orchards, gardens, and green and shady lanes, wliere creep- 
ing vines trail their tendrils, blossoms, arid tlowers in wild 
and graceful profusion over tlie walls and fences, intersect all 
parts of the town, except a few streets in the centre. It is 
well supplied with good water, conducted from the neighbour- 
ing hills, and in every quarter of the town are commodious 
w\ishing-sheds for the use of the i)ublic. These sheds aro 
supported on stone pillars, and have rather an ornamental 
appearance. Tubs are dispensed with in them entirely ; a 
range of separate washing places, made of smooth tiles, and 
running the whole length of the building, supplying their 
place. All the linen of the town is washed at these places, 
no one ever thinking of washing at liome, and there a num- 
ber of women find girls may be seen washing from morning 
till night, singing, chatting, and laughing the while, as only 
cheerful health and industry can make people. Any person 
wdio thinks the Mexicans cannot be industrious should see 
these girls washing in Jalapa. 

A great many wealthy old Spanish families reside in Jala- 
pa, and the beauty of the senoritas (young ladies) of that 
pleasant little town was generally admitted by the young 
Americans to equal at least, if not to surpass, the beauties of 
the States. Groups of these senoritas, from sixteen years of 
age and upwards, might be seen standing in the balconies 
that front their windows in the cool evenings, chatting, laugh- 
ing, and smoking the cigarito. The long, lustrous black hair 



THE SENORITAS OP JALAPA. 209 

and cl<iar ricli brown of her complexion, the ro^ish twinklo 
of her dark eyes, and in spite of her indul^ng in an occa- 
sional cigarito, the pearly liue of her admirable teeth, seen to 
excellent advantage as you listen to the silver t^jnes of her 
delightful laugh, re/ider the senorita of Mexico rather interest- 
ing. In fact, I believe the Mexican girl, or senorita, has the 
most musical laugli of any in the world. There is an abso- 
lute magic in it, and I would defy an anchorite to hear it 
without feeling a sympathetic twitch of his risible organs, its 
pure heart-easing miilh, and ringing melody, carrying all 
before it as triumphantly and irresistibly as the notes of the 
famous world-enchantress Jenny Lind. li' we add to these, 
that peculiar Nora Creina-like ease and natural grace of mo- 
tion and gesture wliich distinguish the Mexican females, pro- 
bably the result of their emancipation from those ingenious 
instruments of female torture still in use among half-civilized 
nations, called corsets, it will be at once conceded that their 
claims to several of the attributes of beauty are by no means 
contemptible. 

The principal church stands at the cornei of the Grande 
Plaza, and is a strange, quaint-looking, but massive and 
strong old building. It is a large church, and the interior is 
very richly and gaudily decorated, with the usual parapher- 
nalia of these churches, of which there are three or four more 
in the town. Mass is performed in this principal one, and 
in one or two of the others every day. But it seems to be 
almost wholly for the benefit of females on working days, as 
I have frequently observed, when the congregation was com- 
ing out, that there was scarcely a single man to be seen, and 
certainly not one in ten were of the male sex. 

The market is held in the Plaza, a large open paved square 
in the centre of the +own, every morning; Sun^lay, as in all 
Mexican towns, being the principal market. It commencefl 



210 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

about six in the morning, and is usually over about three oi 
four in the afternoon. Fruit and vegetables are the principal 
articles sold, and these are very cheap. Fowls and eggs were 
also tolerably cheap when we arrived ; a good fowl being sold 
for two reals, or a shilling, and a dozen of eggs for one real ; 
but a rapid rise in prices took place soon after the troops 
entered the town. The alcalde^ an honest old fellow, who, I 
dare say, never had heard of political economy, and the law 
of supply and demand, was perfectly shocked at the extortion 
practised on the soldiers by the vendors of commodities. 
He endeavoured to bring back the prices to what they were 
before our arrival, by publishing an edict fixing the price of 
articles ; but it was of no practical effect, as they easily found 
means to evade it. 

The number of priests one sees in the streets of this small 
town is astonishing. Many of them are Mexicans of the 
lower class, that is half Indian caste, and these are generally 
of most forbidding aspect, having the oblique, sinister eye, 
and " forehead villanous low," of the Indian, and a complexion 
tallowish and singularly disagreeable. I could scarcely help 
fancying sometimes, when I have suddenly met one of these 
hooded monks, that there lurked a twinkle of the unholy fire 
from that "light of other days," the auto dafe^ in the scowl 
which he threw from under his beetle brow on the heretico 
Americano. Indeed I believe the majority of them would 
have considered a little religious roasting only a fair quid pro 
quo for the sound basting the Americans were giving their 
countrymen, and which threatened serious damage to the 
monopoly of religion which the Virgin and her cowled and 
hooded ministry enjoyed in Mexico. 

Shortly after our arrival in Jalapa, General Scott, who was 
anxious to pjace his army in winter quarters, as the rainy 
season was commencing, proceeded with the main body of 



HONOURABLE CONDUCT OF GENERAL SCOTT. 211 

the army to Puebla, leaving Colonel Cliilds, of our regiment, 
governor of Jalapa, with a garrison of about a thousand effec- 
tive men, of which our regiment formed a part. The garri- 
son and sick left behind at Vera Cruz, the discharge of a 
regiment of volunteers whose term of service had expired, 
and the great number of sick in hospital, with the killed and 
wounded in the late action, had reduced our effective strength 
more than half, and we were now a very insignificant force 
for active operations. But as the rainy season continues for 
two or three months at this period of the year, during which 
it would be folly to bring an army into the field, we should 
have time to wait for reinforcements. 

Shortly after our arrival at Jalapa, the secretary of war, 
under the direction of the President, I suppose, sent instruc- 
tions to General Scott, to commence taking provisions and 
forage for the subsistence of his troops wherever he could 
find them, without paying for the same. This they called 
making the war support itself, and said it was the only way 
to make the Mexican people anxious to end it, by making 
them feel its burden. With these most stupid and atrocious 
instructions, acting with sound policy, as well as from 
motives of justice and humanity. General Scott in the most 
explicit and decided terms refused to comply. He declared 
in his reply to the Secretary, that he would pay, or pledge 
the credit of the American Government for every cent's 
worth of produce which the Mexicans should furnish the 
army while under his command. The good consequences 
of this just and honourable conduct were felt throughout the 
subsequent part of the campaign in the comparative ease 
with which we found supplies of all descriptions ; and to the 
mild and mitigated form which the war assumed under this 
system, as compared with that to which another course 



212 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

would have led, the speedy and favourable conclusion of the 
war may be partly attributed. 

Colonel Child s, the governor of the town, with a view, I 
suppose, to conciliate the priests and inhabitants of Jalapa, 
had consented to take a part in a procession of the host. 
This caused a good deal of grumbling among a regiment 
of Pennsylvania volunteers, who lay here at the time, and 
who were loud in their denunciations of his conduct, con- 
sidering it a complete compromise of the national honour. 
One evening a procession of the host going to the house of 
a sick grandee, a number of chanting friars and priests, 
drawling I.atiii hymns, and ringing bells, each with a thick 
wax candle, lighted, in his hand, and all bareheaded, and in 
black or white gowns, were seen issuing from the church 
door into the street. There were about a hundred priests, 
and a tiumber of boys in surplices, carrying pots of incense. 
In the midst of this procession. Colonel Childs, Captain 
Burke, and Lieutenants Brannan and Hoffman, of the first 
artillery, made their appearance, dressed in full uniforms, 
each carrying a lighted wax taper in one hand and his cap 
in the olher. The whole affair, as a matter of taste, was 
simply absurd ; as a matter of policy, questionable. One can 
hardly imagine that the Mexicans would be so easily gulled 
as to believe that the officers cared a farthinof for the cere- 
monies they were engaged in. It was mere probable that 
the parties most inimical to us would construe the desire to 
conciliate them into a distrust of our own refeX)urces, which 
might strengthen their presumption and resistance to the 
just demands of America. However, had the display been 
limited to an exhibition of himself, and the subordinates who 
attended him on the occasion, I believe no one would have 
thought it worth more than a passing laugh ; but unfortu- 



ARREARS OF PAY. 213 

nately this was not tlie case. The ofRcer commanding tlie 
main guard, had received orders to have the guard under 
arms, ana >n the approach of the procession to cause them 
to present arms, and tlien kneel with their mr::.kets in the 
left liands, and their caps in the right, until the processioc 
had passed. To the credit of the volunteers who formed 
about two thirds of the guard, they refused to ohey this 
absurd order, which was luckily not insisted on, or the con- 
sequences might have been seiious. As for the portion of the 
regular soldiers who were upon guard, they performed their 
part of the ceremony without hesitation, evidently consider- 
ing it a i3iece of foolish enough drill, and nothing more. 
The officer of the guard was a sensible fellow, and deserves 
credit for not rigidly enforcing the obedience of the volun- 
teers, and indeed it is probable that he saw the absurdity 
and unconstitutional nature of the proceeding. But it was 
a great blunder for Colonel Childs to issue an order of such 
a nature, and had it led to serious consequences, as with a 
blundering headstrong officer on guard, it most likely would 
have done, he would have incurred a heavy responsibility. 

About the latter end of May, we received four months* 
pay. This had been very much wanted for some time ; and 
for the last month especially, the men had grumbled loudly 
at the long delay of the paymaster. The lon:i- i»eriods that 
elapsed between the payments of the army while in Mexico 
was a serious srrievance, causing; much sufforino; and dissatis- 
faction. Soldiers are excee<lingly improvident, and many 
of them, indeed the far greatest number of them — squander 
their pay, of which they receive two months at once, in a 
few days, or weeks at farthest. Sometimes they are not 
paid for a period of four months, as in the present instance, 
when a private receives twenty-four dollars, about five 
pounds. This produces a short satiu-nalia siioceeded by 



214 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

months of destitution, during which a soldier feels the want 
of a number of those little comforts and luxuries, which 
habit has converted into necessaries, most acutely, "^obacco 
to those who are habitual users of it, as nine tenths of the 
soldiers are, or a glass of spirits when cold or wet in cf mp, 
or on a march, and without the means of getting dried or 
warmed, these are not only harmless luxuries, but ecessary 
restoratives in many cases. Such apparent trifle, as these 
are essential to the comfort of most soldiers, and render 
endurable the thousand petty annoyances and d" jomforts 
of a life full of hardships ; and for want of these, or the 
means of obtaining them, I have seen soldiers become gloomy, 
irritable, and even disobedient and mutinous, xis a means 
of preventing these results, consequent on the payment of 
two or four months' pay at a time, an excellent remedy 
might be found in giving each soldier a small sum weekly 
through the medium of his captain, which might be charged 
on the monthly pay roll. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Departu from Jalapa — Deserters — On the march — Captain 
"Walker — Perote — Tepe Agualco — Puebla. 

About t^ . iiiddle of June, a large reinforcement under the 
command jf General Cadwallader having arrived at Jalapa, 
according to, the instructions which Colonel Childs had 
received, we- had orders to prepare for a march to join the 
main body, then quartered in Puebla. The lieutenant who 
commanded the company to which I belonged, had, shortly 
before this, been promoted to a captaincy in another com- 
pany. We had got as our captain, when he left, a dashing 
sort of fellow called Captain Magruder, who being particu- 
larly distinguished for his skill in light artillery manoeuvres, 
got charge of two twelve-pounder guns ; our company was 
thus converted into horse artillery, and had charge of a 
battery. We therefore gave our muskets into the charge of 
the ordnance department, and received in exchange about 
forty of the quartermaster's best horses, for which a number 
of Mexican saddlers were immediately employed in altering 
and fitting harness, and in a few days we were fully equipped 
as mounted artillery. Our battery, which was principally 
got up for the purpose of being used on the march, as it was 
expected that the enemy would oppose us at some of the 
mountain passes between Jalapa and Puebla, consisted of 
two twelve-pounder brass guns, and a small brass howitzer. 
It havino; been General Scott's instructions to evacuate 
Jalapa and join head-quarters at Puebla, with the next 



216 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

reinforcement, all the sick who were able to bear the journey 
were to be conveyed in waggons to the castle of Perote. 
The authorities of Jalapa had humanely undertaken the 
care of those too ill to be removed, a charge which we after- 
"wards learned they most faithfully and honourably fulfilled. 

On the 25th of June we commenced our march, but only 
proceeded to a plain called the Camp ground, where the 
volunteers lay before leaving for Puebla. It is about three 
miles out of the town on the road to Perote ; there we 
pitched our tents and encamped for the night. The train 
which arrived with Cadwallader had brought our tents from 
Vera Cruz ; as it would have been impossible for an army 
to encamp on the table lands without, tents, owing to the 
coldness of the nights. For some time before we left Jalapa 
the emissaries of the Mexican Government had been busy 
tampering with the soldiers of our army, holding out large 
promises of preferment and distinction to any of our men 
who would join their ai-my, and giving them money and 
liquor as earnest of a future higher reward. Unfortunately 
for their dupes, they were only too successful, and a great 
many of our men stayed behind. This result was also partly 
occasioned by the foolish and tyrannical conduct of a num- 
ber of the young officers of the American service, who 
abused their authority greatly, and who w^ere not suflSciently 
checked by the senior oflScers of the service. Out of the 
company to which I belonged ten deserted, more than an 
eighth of our entire company, which was not eighty strong 
at the time. I cannot say for its correctness, but it was 
currently rumoured, and I think it highly probable, that 
there were between two and three hundred desertions from 
our army while we lay at Jalapa. 

The ground where we encamped was a fine grassy plain, 
and near it ran a stream of pure water ; it was capable of 



THE ADVANTAGE OF HAVING A HORSE. 217 

afFording accommodation for an army, being several miles 
in extent. Our guns were placed in front of our tents at a 
convenient distance, and the picket rope having been stretch- 
ed between the caissons extended for the purpose, our horses 
were fastened to it for the night. It rained a good deal 
during the night as usual ; for during the rainy season in 
this part of Mexico a heavy fall of rain, often accompanied 
by thunder and lightning, usually takes place every after- 
noon or evening, and continues during the greater part of 
the night, the mornings and fore part of the day being 
invariably bright and clear. 

We were roused by the bugle sounding the stable call in 
front of our tents at half-past three o'clock in the morning ; 
I mean our company, for the remainder of the division did 
not get up for an hour and a half after that. One of the 
evils of having horses on a march, is that you have to get 
up considerably earlier than the rest of the division, as you 
have to rub down your horses, take them to water, and 
harness and feed them. But still there are advantages to 
be derived from them which more than counterbalance any 
slight trouble they may occasion. Just imagine the differ- 
ence of getting yourself carried, in place of carrying a 
musket and knapsack, and limping along tired and foot-sore, 
after a long day's march, as an infantry soldier. In the 
evening, after a long day's march, while the infiintry soldier 
feels every joint aching and can hardly drag his tired limbs 
round the camp, the soldier who has been riding all the day 
finds it a pleasant and relaxing exercise to rub down and 
curry his horse, ride him to water, and carry him his forage. 
Indeed, I believe it would take a great deal to tempt a man 
who knows the difference of campaigning as a dragoon or 
light artillery-man, to change situation with a soldier belong- 
ing to an infantry regiment. But very few of our men 

10 



218 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIE^x IN MEXICO. 

thouglit SO then I dare say, and as many of them kne'w nothing 
about the management of horses, they thought it a great 
bore to have anything to do with them. For my own part, 
I must confess that this was the case with myself at the 
time. I had only been on a horse's back two or three times 
in my life, and that more than twenty years before ; the 
plain fact being, that I knew as much about a horse as a 
horse knew about me. But one of our sergeants was sick, 
and I being the senior corporal, was furnished with a tall 
grey charger, and compelled to take his place. However, 
my gallant grey was a very quiet sort of animal, and too 
generous to take advantage of my ignorance in the noble 
art of horsemanship, which I have not the least doubt his 
sagacious penetration was not long in discovering. In fact, 
I could almost imagine sometimes, from the peculiarly sly 
and humorous expression of his eye as he observed my want 
of tact in the arrangement of his furniture, that he was 
indulging in an inward chuckle at my awkwardness, though 
too well mannered to break out into a loud horse-laugh to 
my face. Still we got along very well together, and before 
the end of the march I felt quite satisfied that I performed 
the various duties of a groom very much to his satisfaction. 

Our second day's march was nearly all up hill, and to 
drag our heavy guns and caissons was killing work for the 
poor horses. About two o'clock we reached a stream of 
water and a convenient camp ground, where we pitched our 
tents for the night ; strong pickets being sent out to guard 
against night surprise by the enemy. We had scarcely 
pitched our tents when the rain began to fall in torrents, and 
as we had to unharness and water our horses, and afterwards 
go to a barley field and cut a supply of forage for them, we 
were thoroughly drenched. A most providential discovery 
having been made of a large quantity of aquadiente in a 



BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. 219 

distillery wliich stood in the immediate vicinity of the camp, 
General Cadwallader immediately ordered its distribution 
among the men, and each man received a gill of it. This 
was an excellent preventive to the bad effects of the cold and 
"wet, and General Cadwallader was unanimously voted a 
Christian. The distillery also contained a large quantity of 
brown lump sugar, and several tons of it were carried off in 
our waggons. About two hundred pounds of it were put 
into a barrel by a man belonging to our company, and thrown 
into one of our waggons ; our men were allowed to use as 
much of it as they pleased, and I believe many of them hurt 
themselves by using it immoderately. It continued to rain 
all night, but was dry before we got up to attend to our 
horses. The morning turned out very fine, and we had break- 
fast and were all ready for marching at six o'clock. 

We began our march between six and seven o'clock, and 
as an attack was threatened at the pass La Hoya which we 
were approaching, we moved slowly, halting half an hour or 
an hour occasionally, while a party of dragoons were sent 
forward to reconnoitre. On these occasions we had leisure 
to admire some very fine scenery, one of these views I think 
the finest I have seen in Mexico. From the right of the 
road there is a deep green valley, which descends abruptly, 
stretching away a long distance, until bounded by a lofty 
and perpendicular wall of bare rock. From the edge of this 
rock and along its summit a large plain extends, cultivated 
in wheat and barley, and dotted with haciendas. On the 
plain and near the precipitous wall, we could see the spires 
and white buildings of a good-sized town. A river, which 
flowed' along the plain at the summit, passed near the town, 
and then fell dashing and sparkling over the sheer precipice 
into the deep green valley beneath. The whole was seen 
distinctly, and y(^t sufficiently distant to be taken in by tho 



220 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

eye at one view. It was truly a glorious sight, and though 
not so magnificent as the views in the neighbourhood of 
Puebla and Mexico, yet it was more pleasingly romantic, and 
just the sort of smiling scene calculated to make one wish he 
could pass the remainder of his days near it. 

We halted near evening at a camp ground, surrounded 
by a complete amphitheatre of hills. It was a fine level 
grassy bottom, with a clear stream at one end of it, and a 
large wooden trough in the centre, which had probably been 
erected by the Government for the use of cavalry on the 
march. It rained this evening as usual ; and as the enemy, 
several thousand strong, were known to be in the neighbour- 
hood, pickets had to cover all the adjacent heights to guard 
against a night surprise. These poor fellows, after marching 
all day, and so tired that they were incapable of keeping up 
the circulation of the blood by motion and exercise, had to 
be out all night in the cold and wet. We were now at an 
elevation of about 7000 feet above the level of the sea, nearly 
twice the height of Ben Lomond, the highest hill in Scotland, 
and the nights were very cold. After all, it is no wonder 
that the mortality is so great in an army during a campaign, 
when one considers the constant exposure to extremes of 
heat, cold, and fatigue, to which the soldier is subjected, and 
the hunger and thirst he has frequently to endure, or the bad 
quality of the food or water he is sometimes glad to use. It 
cleared up about the middle of the night, and when we rose 
in the morning there was hoar frost on the ground. 

We had the most dangerous part of the pass to go through, 
and we had orders to keep our slow matches burning in the 
linstocks, and be ready for instant action. Our road for the 
first few miles was over an ascending tract of broken lava, 
presenting the most singularly irregular surface of a country 
imaginable. On each side of the r'^ad huge masses of lava 



A GLIMPSE OF THE ENEMY. 221 

stood at intervals like gigantic pillars. Between tliese, and 
covering the whole surface of the ground, broken lava was 
strewn, with a crumbled sort of appearance, as if it had 
covered the ground in one vast sheet, and cracked into frag- 
ments by the process of cooling. If lava is contractile and 
expansive, like the metals, perhaps the intense heat of the 
sun by day and the cold frosts at night might partly account 
for the appearance of the crumbled portions. A great vari- 
ety of cactuses, which, like the eccentric and jolly Mark 
Tapley, of the Blue Dragon, never seem to come out so strong 
and vigorously as when struggling with difficulties of situa- 
tion, sprang up between the crevices of the rocks, and a few 
dwarf aloes and stunted pines endeavoured to gain a footing 
here and there. A wild and rugged range of hills covered 
with pine trees, bounded the road on the left ; and in the 
hollows and ravines of these the enemy were supposed to be 
concealed, waiting a favourable moment for an attack. 
When we had travelled about four or five miles, a small body 
of the enemy were discovered about half a mile off, on the 
side of the hill. The division was halted, and our guns being 
unlimbered, and brought to bear on them, we fired several 
shots, w^hen we c^ould see their white dresses gliding among 
the green trees and bushes, in all directions, reminding us of 
a flock of scared wild fowl. At some of the points which 
had the most suspicious appearance, and presented a good 
point of attack for an enemy bold enough to avail himself of 
the advantage, companies were sent out as skirmishers, but 
the enemy kept cautiously out of sight. 

About ten o'clock we met Captain Walker and his dra- 
goons. He had received information that a force had been 
collected with the design of attacking us, and had come out 
from Perote to our assistance. He left Perote on the pre- 
ceding evening, and being conducted by a Mexican spy to a 



222 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

place where a large body of the enemy were assembled, be 
routed them in the utmost confusion, his dragoons cutting 
down a great many with their sabres. We arrived at a vil- 
lage a little beyond the pass, about seven miles from Perote, 
which was said to belong to Canales, a Mexican general, 
known to be a most bitter enemy of the Americans. The 
village was completely deserted by its inhabitants, and as 
they were considered to form part of the guerilla force 
assembled to oppose us, it was set on fire and burned to the 
ground. 

Captain Walker and his dragoons were much feared and 
hated by the Mexicans in the neighbourhood of Perote. 
They had the duty assigned them of hunting out and routing 
the bands of guerillas who infested that neighbourhood, and 
as might be expected from troops on a service of that nature, 
were said to commit actions at times that would scarcely 
bear a strict examination. It is reported that Captain 
Walker frequently told his men that he wished them to 
bring in no prisoners ; the inference which his men were cer- 
tain to draw from this hint may be easily conceived. But 
one of the great evils of guerilla warfare is, that it necessa- 
rily, by the process of retaliation which it induces, ends in a 
dishonourable and savage system of inhuman butchery and 
fiendish assassination. Captain Walker, a Texan, with his 
father and two brothers, had been taken prisoners by the 
Mexicans in some foray which they had made on the Mexi- 
can frontiers, a few years before the breaking out of the pre- 
sent war. With a large body of American prisoners taken 
at the same time, they were confined in the dungeons of the 
castle of Perote, where a number of them soon died of the 
bad treatment they received. A proportion of their number 
were ordered by the Mexican Government to be shot, the 
victims being indica ed by drawing lots. Captain Walker's 



TOWN AND CASTLE OF PEROTE. 22? 

fathei and brother were among those shot on the occasion, 
and it is said that he then resolved to pursue the Mexicans 
with relentless revenge on every practicable opportunity. 
He obtained his release some time after, with the remaining 
prisoners, and on the breaking out of the present war, having 
obtained the command of a body of volunteer dragoons, 
raised in Texas, and called Texan Rangers, he returned to 
fulfil his resolution, and pour out the vials of his wrath on 
the wretched peasantry. He was killed at a battle fought 
at a place called Huamantla, near Puebla, about four or five 
months after this. 

From the pass Los Vigas, the country begins to exhibit 
signs of cultivation, and we soon reached an extensive plain 
where we had a view of the town and castle of Perote. 
Large fields of barley and wheat, then ripe and yellow, ex- 
tended for miles over the plain, with not a sign of an enclo- 
sure or a division, and the rugged hills on the left were cul- 
tivated, ia some parts, half way up their sloping sides. The 
insulated mountain of Pizarro, a vast mass of rock, termi- 
nating in a lofty cone, rises in the plain, about a distance of 
eight miles behind Perote ; on the left, in the distance, stand 
the volcanoes covered with snov/, and in front of them a long 
line of craggy mountains. We passed on the side of the 
road a few miserable villages of mud hovels, the abodes of the 
wretched peons who cultivated the rich fields we were pass- 
ing through ; also several haciendas, the residences of the 
proprietor or manager of the estate, and were soon in the 
suburbs of Perote. The maguey makes its first appearance 
here, where it is used for fences, and from Perote to the city 
of Mexico, it constitutes a prominent feature in the landscape. 
This is the gigantic American aloe, from which the beverage 
called pulque is extracted, of which all Mexicans are so fond. 

We encamped on the plains in front of iho castle, which 



224 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

is situated about a mile from the town of Perote. TIu8 
strong garrison was taken possession of by General North, 
who followed the Mexicans in their retreat after the battle of 
Cerro Gordo, affording them no time to garrison or provision 
it for resistance. The town of Perote, one would naturally 
imagine, should have exhibited some symptoms of the pros- 
perity which reigned so delightfully in the fruitful abundance 
of the surrounding landscape. But I believe I never saw a 
more melancholy and decayed town in any part of the coun- 
try, which is saying a great deal. Nearly a third of the 
houses, which are nearly all built of mud, were roofless and 
in ruins, and the miserable inhabitants seemed to have in 
extreme degree the shivering, starved, and apathetic look of 
cheerless, indolent misery that characterises the Indian pea- 
santry between Vera Cruz and the capital. The men haunted 
the silent and ruinous streets with their melancholy visages, 
and wrapped in their dingy blankets, looking like spectres 
of famine ; no employment, or any appearance of it, nothing 
but dirt, indolence, hunger, and utter Mexican wretchedness, 
in the midst of scenes of smiling plenty. 

We stayed in Perote two days, during which we had .. 
number of our horses shod, and on the 29th we resumed our 
march. For some distance after leaving the town of Perote, 
our road lay through fields of wheat and barley, and occa- 
sionally a large field of beans, a great article of food in Mex- 
ico. But the same wretchedness of appearance distinguished 
the huts of the peasantry, and the men, women, and children 
whom we saw in their vicinity, that we had remarked in the 
same objects for the few previous days. As we neared the- 
mountain of Pizarro we left the cultivated part of the plain 
The road winds round the base of this volcanic mountain for 
a considerable distance, and on a near view on the highest peak 
of the rock a large wooden cross is visible. By the by, ib 



THE MIRAGE. 225 

travelling between Vera Cruz and the capital, one every no\9 
and then observes a small wooden cross erected by the road 
side, wreaths of withered flowers hanging on some of them, 
These, we were told, had been erected to indicate the spot 
where the dead body or bodies of murdered travellers had 
been recently found, and buried, and the frequency of their 
appearance said volumes on the insecurity of human life 
while travelling on that route. A peasant, on passing these 
crosses, if a man, takes off his hat, and if a woman, she 
drops a curtsey ; I have frequently seen them kneeling and 
saying prayers in front of them. As we circled round the 
base of the mountain, we saw the mirage — that singular na- 
tural phenomenon which one reads of in books of travel, and 
which I had somehow always supposed was confined to the 
sandy plains of Africa. I was prepared to look for it here, 
however, having been told by one of my comrades, as we 
came along, who had been reading in a book of Mexican 
travels an account of its being always seen in the plain be- 
yond the Pizarro on a clear day. But so perfect was the 
optical illusion, that reason could scarcely prevail against the 
seeming evidence of sense. It appeared, at the distance of 
three or four miles, to be an extensive lake distinctly set in 
the plain, and reaching to the base of a range of hills, whoso 
dark masses were distinctly seen inverted in the clear mirror. 
As we ai)proached, however, the lake was gradually con- 
verted into a large sandy plain, over which the rays of light 
trembled with undulous motion through the highly rarified 
atmosphere. At length we reached Tepe Ar/ualco, a town 
of mud houses, near a range of dismal, dark, and rugged 
mountains, bare to their summits, half way up one of which 
was seen a quaint-looking old church. A few straggling 
fences of the maguey were the only ornament in the village, 
which contained three large mesons, or inns. 

10* 



226 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

These mesons are so nearly alike in their accommodations 
for travellers in all the towns and villages on the road from 
Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico, with the exceptions of 
Jalapa and Puebla, that one description may suffice for all. 
They are usually built in the form of a large square, the 
buildings being one story high. The front of the square, 
through the centre of which there is a wide entrance, care- 
fully closed at night by a large gate, contains the domestic 
establishment of the proprietor, with his offices and kitchens. 
The furthest end of the square is a range of sheds furnished 
with stalls and feedina: trouMis for an unlimited number of 
quadrupeds, and the sides of the square are ranges of small 
unventilated apartments, about six feet by ten, with a door 
in the centre, but no windows. Into one of these cells the 
traveller and his luggage are stowed ; he makes his bed, if he 
is so fortunate as to possess the means of doing so, on the 
floor, never very clean, but which he may sweep if he can 
find a broom on the premises. An air of the most perfect 
contempt for the virtue of cleanliness pervades every corner 
of the establishment, and the bill of "fare is usually limited 
to a very few simple dishes, among which tortillas and fri- 
joles, maize cakes, and beans stewed in lard, form promi- 
nent items. In short, the person purposing to visit Mexico 
who is not prepared for being robbed on the highway by 
banditti, or is nice in the article of diet, or not impervious to 
the attacks of fleas and other unmentionable vermin, would 
be v/ise either to lay up a considerable share of stoical en- 
durance, and resolve to submit heroically to the force of 
circumstances, or altogether abandon the rash purpose. 

We remained in Tepe Agualco two days, as General Cad- 
wallader wished to allow a reinforcement of troops under 
General Pierce, who were only two or three days' march in 
rear of us, to come up with our division. Pulque is one of 



rUROS AND CIGARITOS. 227 

the principal products of Tepe Agualco, and three or four old 
women were seated in front of one of the mesons, each with 
a pitcher of that liquor and an earthen jug, which held nearly 
a pint, and which they sold for dos clacos, about three cents. 
I drank a jug full of it, and although the fii'st time I had 
tasted it, relished it very much. It produced the same sort 
of exhilarating effect as an equal quantity of moderately 
strong ale. 

On the 1st of July we commenced our march over an 
extensive plain, uncultivated, except an occasional patch of 
beans or barley along the edge, at the bottom of mountains 
which bound it. The plains here are covered with short 
grass, and a variety of flowering and sweet-scented herbs, 
and in the mornino; when we beofan our march the air was 
deliciously perfumed vdih the odour they diflused as we trod 
on them. In the neighbourhood of Tepe Agualco the plain 
is covered with pumice stones. These some inventive 
genius conceived the idea of converting into tobacco pipes, 
by cutting the soft stone into the shape of a bowl, and 
sticking a reed or hollow tube into it. Our supply of pipes 
had become quite exhausted, and none could be procured, 
as the Mexicans never use anything but the cigar ito or j^^i^o 
in smokino". Xecessitv suoforested the pimiice stone, which 
answered the purpose so weU that one-half of the men might 
be seen smoking them in the course of a day or two after 
the first one had been seen. I may remark for the benefit 
of the reader that a 2>'^'-i'o means a cigar, and a -cigarito is 
only a small quantity of finely-cut tobacco rolled up in a 
paper about a couple of inches long, and the thickness of a 
very fine quill. One puro or cigar contains as much tobacco 
and will cost as much money as twenty cigaritos. You 
may have a bundle of cigaritos containing from fifty to a 



228 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IJH MEXICO. 

hundred for une medio (six cents), but you can only pur- 
chase two or three puros for the sa.ne sum. 

The plains, or table lands, tierra templada, commence a 
few miles from Perote, and this plateau continues to a con- 
siderable distance beyond Puebla, where a high range of 
mountains divides it from the valley of Mexico. These 
plains, which are perfectly level, and on which there is not a 
single tree, ditch, fence, or habitation, or a shrub higher than 
a man's knee, present a desolate and deserted appearance. 
They are everywhere bounded by mountains, and vary in 
width from thirty or forty to eight or ten miles, where they 
are narrowed by the spurs of opposite mountain ranges. 
The villages or haciendas are built in retired nooks behind 
the skirt of the hills which bound tliem, and any partial 
cultivation visible from Perote to Nopaluco, a distance of 
between forty and fifty miles, is a slight patch at the foot 
of the mountains. There are a few exceptions to this general 
description, and round Perote, Nopaluco, Amazook, Puebla, 
and San Martin, there are portions of the soil tolerably well 
cultivated. But those cover a small portion of the tiei^ra 
tejnplada, and I think there is not a twentieth part of the 
available surface of the country under cultivation between 
Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico that would be in a short 
period if the country was possessed by a more active and 
vigorous race. After a march of about fifteen miles we 
arrived and encamped at a place called Ojo de Agua (the 
Eye of Water) ; a spring which gushes out from a rock in 
the side of a hill here gives the name to the place. It is a 
shallow, insignificant stream at its source, but it gradually 
widens, and about a quarter of a mile from the spring my 
comrade Nutt and I found it wide enough to bathe in. 

On the fifth and sixth we remair-ed in the vicinity of Ojo 



THE PINOL PASS. 229 

de Agua to enable General Pierce's division to overtake 
ours before we undertook to pass the Pinol, a dangerous 
pass, about eighteen or twenty miles further on. On the 
morning of the seventh we again resumed our march, and 
about ten o'clock we arrived at Nopaluco, where we halted 
to procure water and such refreshments as the place afforded. 
A quantity of fruit and other edibles speedily made their 
appearance in the market, and I breakfasted luxuriously on 
fresh bread, deli(nous ripe bananas, and chocolate, for une 
real^ (twelve and a half cents.) Nopaluco is built of adobe 
or unburnt brick, and is finely situated on a gentle rise. 
The land for several miles round is tolerably well cultivated 
in wheat, barley, Indian corn, and the agave. About three 
o'clock we reached the edge of the pass, where we encamped 
for the night. 

On the morning of the eighth. General Pierce's division 
joined, having been encamped a short distance behind ours 
on the previous night. A strong body of skirmishers were 
sent up to explore the woods, crowning the precipitous cliffs 
which overhung our road for several miles, and on the edge 
of which cliffs the enemy had poised huge masses of rock 
ready to tumble on our approach, but no trace of an enemy 
could be discovered. After all their preparations they had 
very prudently given up the attempt, and we passed the 
Pinol without hearing a shot fired. After leaving this pass, 
our road for a few miles passed over what seemed the bed 
of a mountain torrent, it was so torn up and furrowed by 
the heavy rains ; a considerable tract of loose sand, inter- 
spersed with large masses of porphyry, succeeded, until we 
arrived near Amazook, where the country is very well culti - 
vated. Like all the small Mexican towns on this road, 
Amazook consists of a collection of adobe and mud build- 
ings, with the exception of a few of the principal houses ic 



230 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

tlie Plaza, where there is also a very handsome church. The 
principal feature in every little town and village in Mexico is 
the church. It is always quaint-looking and picturesque, 
and invariably beside the Plaza. It is not customary to 
have the burial-grounds adjacent to the churches in Mexico. 
In spite of the dirt, slovenliness, and misery which seem to 
enveloj^e the population and their wretched-looking habita- 
tions, the towns and villages of Mexico have always a 
remarkably picturesque appearance. I believe a good deal 
of this effect is produced by the remarkable purity of the 
atmosphere, and their quaint old churches, with their exterior 
carved and painted decorations. The Plaza, being the 
market-place, is usually a large open space, giving eflect to 
the view of the church, and it mostly contains a fountain of 
water in its centre, and has a row of trees around it, which 
also adds to the general effect. 

On the ninth we marched through a tolerably well-cul- 
tivated tract of country to Puebla. As we approached 
within five or six miles of the city we enjoyed one of the 
finest views of a city at a distance that I have ever seen. 
The lofty snow mountains of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, 
with their broad and heavy-looking dark bases, and their 
dazzlingly bright pyramidal summits, rose in the background. 
In front, on the side of a gently rising and delightfully 
wooded hill, sat Puebla, every outline of its numerous spires 
and churches seen through the highly-rarified and transpar- 
ent atmosphere as distinctly as the lines of a highly-finished 
engraving. On arriving at Puebla our company, on account 
of requiring accommodation for the horses, were comfortably 
quartered in a large meson, where we remained until the 
army marched on the capital. 



CHAPTER XXT. 

Pueb^ — Convents and public buildings — Newspaper generals — An 
Indian city — San Martin — Valley of Mexico. 

PuEBLA is distant from the city of Mexico 93 miles, and from 
Vera Cruz 186 miles ; tbe distance from Vera Cruz to the city 
of Mexico by the road being 279 miles, though in a direct 
line, I believe, it is not more than 150. The Spaniards have 
a proverb, " Puebla the first heaven, Mexico the second," and 
I believe there can be no question as to the superiority of 
the site on which Puebla is built as regards its salubrity and 
healthiness. The situation of Puebla does credit to the taste 
and judgment of the Spaniards; this being one of the few 
cities founded by them in Mexico, the others being princi- 
pally on the foundations of Indian towns and cities. It is 
built on the side of a beautifully wooded hill, and its streets, 
though not very wide, are well paved, and have good side 
v.^alks of flagstone. The houses are mostly two stories high, 
some of them being gaudily, some fantastically, and others 
tastefully, ornamented with painting and carving. Many of 
them have the entire front inlaid with painted and glazed 
tiles, and the whole produces a sort of bizarre, yet rich and 
pleasing effect. One of the suburbs contains a fine public 
garden called the Alameda ; it is more than a mile in circum- 
ference, adorned with fountains, jets (Teau, and statues, and 
is very neatly kept in order, and tastefully ornamented with 
flowering shrubs and trees. The houses are all built of stone, 
and large and commodious, and but a small portion of their 



232 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

number would seem to denote poverty ; yet the city swarms 
with squalid beggars, clothed in rags and exposing their dis- 
eases and deformities. There are several cotton factories 
in operation in Puebla when things are in a peaceable state, 
and a number of Englishmen are employed in them at high 
wages, superintending and instructing the natives there em- 
ployed. But the war had stopped all the machinery, and 
some thousands of the inhabitants of Puebla, thrown out of 
employment, were suffering great privation, both from that 
circumstance and the rise in the price of commodities, 
caused by the presence of such a large body of our army. 
The goods made in Puebla are very dear, and of coarse 
qualities, and only for the enormous duties levied on foreign 
goods, these cotton factories could not be carried on at all. 
The new tariff by which American goods were admitted at 
an almost nominal duty, had caused the stoppage of all the 
manufacturing machinery in Mexico. 

There are said to be more than a hundred domes and 
spires in this city, which has a population of 80,000. It 
abounds in convents, and each of these distributes daily an 
allowance of provisions at the convent door, without, money 
V and without price, or even the formality of a ticket from a mem- 
ber of the mendicity society ; a discriminating charity being no 
part of the policy of the Church of Rome, one of whose delibe- 
rate aims seems to be the fostering of ignorance and poverty. 
To endeavour to unfetter agricultural, manufacturing, and 
commercial industry, and to have the accursed laws of peon- 
age abolished, so that the people might gradually emerge 
from this miserable serfdom to a more elevated and self- 
dependent state, would scarcely suit the views of that Church. 
I believe the jealous system of Spain in disce uraging com- 
merce and free intercourse between her possessions and those 
of other countries, was dictated by the Church of Rome, 



SUFFERINGS OP THE TROOPS. 233 

afraid of the dangerous activity of mind wliich commerce and 
manufactures must inevitably produce. Every stranger who 
visits Mexico, and does not wilfully shut his eyes to the fact, 
must perceive the culpability of the clergy in causing and 
perpetuating the present condition of affairs. They seem 
to have cared about nothing but the endowment of churches, 
ornamenting of shrines, and all the childish mummery of 
their pageantry. Under the present system of religious in- 
tolerance which prevails in Mexico, it cannot be expected that 
the country will become progressive or prosperous. And if 
anything can reconcile one to the injustice of carrying the 
war into the interior of Mexico, it would be the benefit that 
might possibly result, by showing the Mexicans the gi'ievous 
inferiority of vigorous action which the deadening influence 
of this system has produced. 

The convents and public buildings in Puebla afforded 
ample accommodation to our army, but few of our men 
seemed to enjoy robust health. The sick list and the hospi- 
tals were full to overcrowding, and one-half of those doing 
duty, wasted with diarrhoea, looked like skeletons or mum- 
mies ; the hardships and privations of the previous part of 
the campaign, telling more or less severely on nearly all, and 
one could not walk far through the streets of Puebla without 
hearing the mournful strains of the soldier's funeral proces- 
sion. At Perote too, where a large number of sick had been 
left, the castle having been converted into a depot, the sick 
died at the average rate of twelve a-day for a series of 
months. These were interred without any military formali- 
ties, or even the usual burial service ; being wrapped in the 
blankets in which they died, they were carted out and 
thrown into pits dug for the purpose daily outside of the 
garrison. I suffered a good deal for several months with the 
prevalent complaint, but like a great many others continued 



234 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

to do dmy when not very able, being determined not to give 
in if possible. I derived considerable benefit from the use 
of pulque and aquadiente, and at other times from opium, a 
small piece of which I carried in a box in my pocket during 
the campaign, frequently taking a few grains of it before 
going to sleep at night. 

The rainy season was now nearly over, and all attempts at ne- 
gotiation with the enemy, who it was now known had fortified 
the approaches to the capital, having failed, General Scott 
being ready for the field about the beginning of August, 
decided on moving towards the city of Mexico. Accordingly 
on the 6th of August the first division marched under the 
command of General Worth, on the 8 th, the second division 
under the command of General Twiggs, and the third under 
General Pillow on the 9th. The company to which I be- 
longed had turned in the two 1 2-pounders which we brought 
up from Jalapa, and had got instead a light battery consist- 
ing of two 6-pounder field pieces, and two 12-pomider howit- 
zers. We now belonged to General Pillow's division. The 
whole effective strength of our army, which was subdivided 
into three nearly equal divisions, consisted of about ten thou- 
sand men, including cavalry and artillery. Of cavalry, we 
had about a thousand, three troops of light artillery, one 
heavy field battery, and a siege train consisting of a few large 
mortars and guns. 

On the morning of the 9th of August, on leaving Puebla, 
we passed through a partially cultivated tract for a considera- 
ble distance. About six miles from Puebla we passed, two 
or three miles off", on the left side of the road, the ruins of 
Cholula, an Indian city, which the Spaniards destroyed on 
taking possession of the country. A pyramid erected before 
the arrival of Cortez is still standing, and we could see it 
distinctly from the road. It was covered with shrubs, and 



THE MARCH TO MEXICO. 235 

presented tlie appearance of a natural hill, with a neat church 
on the top of it. Its height is said to be a hundred and 
sixty-two feet, and each side of its base 1300 feet. It is 
built of unburnt bricks and clay, and contains cavities in- 
tended for sepulchres. There are about 6000 inhabitants in 
Cholula, and they still manufacture a description of earthen- 
ware for which they were famous in the time of Cortez. We 
met some of these Indians carrying immense loads of this 
earthenware to Puebla lor sale. It is surprising what heavy 
loads they carry on their backs for a long distance to market. 
I have frequently seen them bringing a load weighing at 
least a hundred pounds into the city of Mexico, which I was 
assured they had brought on their backs from the mountain 
eight or ten miles off. They support the burden behind by 
a strap which passes across their forehead, and carry a stick 
with which they prop it when they are tired. 

We encamped about twelve miles from Puebla on a mea- 
dow by the roadside, where there was a pond of indifferent 
water. But San Martin was twelve miles further and there 
was no other place nearer, and as the next stage between San 
Martin and Rio Frio was twenty-four miles, and difficult for 
the horses, being mostly up hill, it was necessary they should 
be fresh for that day's march. San Martin, which we made 
our second day's stage, is a small town containing a church 
and convent, and surrounded by a tract of fertile and well- 
cultivated land. We left San Martin early on the morning 
of the third day's march, and after passing through a tract 
of country covered with loose stones of porphyry, and 
sprinkled with pines and cedars, began to ascend the hills 
that separate the valley of Puebla from that of Mexico. 
After marching about the half of our day's journey we 
arrived at a well-built stone bridge thrown over a deep pre- 
cipitous gorge, with a stream of good water in a rocky 



236 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

channel at the bottom. A little way up tlie hill on the otliei 
side of the bridge, we halted at a meson^ and here my com- 
rade Bill Nutt and myself, with several other fortunate indi- 
riduals, were in time to procure some fresh bread, sausages, 
and a drop of aquadiente. Our road for the remainder of 
the day's march was up hill, rough, and through a thick 
wood of pines. After travelling up hill for two or three 
hours, we began to descend into the valley of the Rio Frio 
(Cold River). The enemy we could see had made some 
preparations for defending the pass by forming breastworks 
of felled trees at various parts of it ; but they had afterwards 
abandoned the idea, being resolved, we supposed, to concen- 
trate their forces in defending the near approaches to the 
city. Descending into the valley we passed Rio Frio, an 
insignificant stream, which runs across the road, and which 
deserves its name, as it is nearly as cold as ice. It comes 
down from the snow mountains and is shaded from the hot 
rays of the sun by the fine woods through which it passes. 
We encamped on a fine grassy plain a little beyond it. We 
began our march early next morning, and kept winding 
round hills covered with thick woods of pines, and carpeted 
with a variety of wild flowers, until about eleven o'clock, 
when we reached a meson on the summit of the mountain, 
and obtained a view of the far-famed valley of Mexico. 

Description is tame when one tries to convey the impres- 
sion which this scene usually makes on all who see it for 
the first time. It is certainly the most magnificent view in 
Mexico ; perhaps, of the peculiar description, the first in the 
world. At an elevation of about 3000 feet, the spectator 
sees, as if spread at his feet like a map, the wh( le of the valley 
of Mexico, its circumference, at the base of the mountains 
which form the sides of the mighty basin, bcdng 120 miles, 
and at the crest of the mountains 200 miles. The whole 



THE VALLEY OF MEXICO. 237 

of the plain, from the height on which the spectator stands, 
is distinctly taken in at one view, and the most minute details 
are distinctly defined and delineated, owing to the remarka- 
ble transparency and purity of the atmosphere. The towers 
and spires of the city of Mexico, twenty-five miles distant, 
are distinctly seen peering out from the foliage and trees ; 
almost the only part of the valley where trees are to be seen, 
by the by, is that round the city. The remainder of the 
valley presents the uniform appearance of a large green 
plain, dotted with wdiite churches, spires, and haciendas, and 
containing several large sheets of water, the remains of the 
lakes which are said to have once nearly covered the whole 
valley. Several small insulated mountains may also be dis- 
tinctly discerned, the only large objects that rise on the sur- 
face of the vast unbroken green plain. The mountains of 
Pocopocatepetl, and Iztaccipuatl, its brother giant, rise about 
twenty miles to the left, and tower to a height of 7000 feet 
higher than where the spectator is standing, though owing 
to the bright atmosphere and the sun shining on the snow, 
it seems only two or three miles distant. The whole of this 
beautiful valley is hemmed in by a circle of stupendous, 
rugged and dark mountains, the rough but sublime set- 
ting of nature to one of her most inimitable pictures, and 
forming a most perfect combination of the sublime and 
beautiful. 

Seen from that elevation, the valley of Mexico is a most 
glorious and magnificent sight, but "'tis distance lends 
enchantment to the view," and as we descend into it, its 
beauties vanish. The lakes become marshes, the fields are 
not cultivated, the villages are mud, and the inhabitants 
wretched-looking Indian peons, in rags and squalid misery. 
We encamped outside of a small town, called Chalco, on 
the lake of that name, and near the left edge of the valley 



238 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

On descending the hill, where we lay two days, General 
Scott in the meantime having reconnoitred the enemy's forti- 
fications at the Penon^ decided on trying if another way 
could not be found to reach the city. Colonel Duncan hav- 
ing satisfied General Scott that a road for artillery could be 
cut from Chalco to Augustine, General North's division 
moved in that direction on the 15th, followed by Twiggs's 
and Pillow's. We marched by short day's stages over a 
terribly bad road, and on the 18th we arrived at Augustine, 
within a few miles of the enemy's position. 



CHAPTER XXn. 

San Augustine — ^Reconnoissance — Guard-house luxuries — A 
convivial party — An unexpected interruption. 

On arriving at San Augustine we encamped in the main 
plazay stretching our picket ropes across the trees that 
surrounded it, to which we fastened our horses by the 
halters, but without taking oflf their harness until further 
orders. A large force of the enemy had left San Augustine 
shortly before we arrived ; they had some intention of mak- 
ing a stand, and opposing our entrance to the village, it was 
said, but their courage had gradually oozed out as we 
approached over the adjacent plain. San Augustine is a 
neat little town, with a fine old church, and a large plaza 
well ornamented and shaded with trees. But it had a very 
deserted appearance, most of the inhabitants having left in 
consequence of the anticipated battle to be fought there, or 
in the vicinity. Only a few had stayed in charge of goods 
and such property as they had been unable to remove easily. 
This was the first place in which I had seen apples since I 
came to Mexico, several Indian women being here with 
baskets of them, ripe, mellow, and delicious. As these pooi 
people eagerly exchanged them for biscuits, a rapid transfer of 
the contents of the soldiers' havresacs and their baskets speed- 
ily took place, to the mutual satisfaction of the parties. I ate 
a couple of them, and I do not think I ever relished an apple 
so much before or since, which is not much to be wondered 
at considering the heat and thirst of the few days' march 



240 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

preceding. These apples were very abundant in the neigh 
bourhood of San Augustine, where I saw some of the finest 
orchards I have ever seen ; our men suffering a good deal 
from heat and thirst, were sometimes tempted to indulge in 
them to an injurious excess. Indeed our surgeons generally 
blamed the excessive use of fruit as a principal cause of the 
mortality of the troops during the whole campaign. 

After the return of a party who had been reconnoitring 
the enemy's position, and found them strongly entrenched 
on the side of a hill commanding the road to Mexico, we 
received orders to take up our quarters for the night but to 
hold ourselves in readiness for a sudden call, being cautioned 
against leaving the camp. General Scott wished to know 
as accurately as possible the strength of the enemy's position, 
before hazarding an engagement, a desire to gain a victory 
T^th the smallest possible sacrifice of life, being a decided 
characteristic of that excellent commander, who knew that 
however despicable an enemy may be in the field, he may 
become formidable if unwisely attacked while strongly 
entrenched and fortified, and occupying an advantageous 
position. Our infantry were quartered in the various empty 
buildings in the town which had been deserted by their 
owners, while our captain decided that our company should 
pitch their tents in the i:>laza^ and remain there with our 
battery. Our horses were put up, however, in an empty 
range of stables at one end of the plaza^ being still left in 
harness in case of a sudden call for their services. A guard 
of twelve men and a corporal having been ordered by the 
captain, I found that it was my turn to mount that evening. 
Having according to instructions posted four sentries, one on 
the officers' quarters, one on the horses, and two on the 
guns and ammunition in the lAaza^ I marched the remainder 
of the guard to the stable-yard, where, finding a butcher's 



GUARD-HOUSE LUXURIES. 241 

shop and dwelling-house empty, but locked-up, we very 
deliberately forced the lock, and appropriated the building 
to the use of the guard. This proceeding of ours was 
strictly in order ; but even if it had been rather irregular, the 
exigencies of the case might almost warrant our proceedings. 
It had begun to rain, and the nights at that season and in 
that high region are excessively cold, and unless we had 
secured a building of some sort for the use of our guard, we 
should have suifered from cold and wet durinof the whole 
night. During all that day until near evening we expected 
an immediate engagement, there being a constant cannonad- 
ing interchanged between the enemy's entrenchments and 
our heavy field battery. This firing we learned was in 
consequence of a reconnoitring party, consisting of several 
engineer officers, having been observed by the enemy, who 
opened a fire on the party, killing Captain Thornton of the 
dragoons, and seriously injuring a guide. In the evening, 
the firing having ceased, strong out-lying piquets were 
stationed outside of the town of San Augustine, and we 
were told to be ready for an attack on the enemy's position 
next day. 

In the meantime we made ourselves very comfortable in 
our guard-house, having kindled a large fire and procured 
an ample supply of wood to last during the night. The 
butcher had left a quantity of sheep skins, which were per- 
fectly dry, and had the wool on ; these being laid on 
benches, or even on the floor, formed a most luxurious 
couch; though certainly to a person of the most delicate 
olfactory nerves, I believe they would have seemed rather 
redolent of a peculiar odorous effluvium, exceedingly sugges- 
tive of dead mutton. But that was a trifle compared with 
the giateful softness and warmth derived from lying on 
them; we were, therefore, very well contented with our 

11 



242 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

quarters for the night. The fact of the matter is, that in 
our present circumstances small favours were generally very 
thankfully accepted; cold, hunger, thirst, mental anxiety, 
and bodily suffering, being admirable cures for fastidious- 
ness. The rose leaf frets the Sybarite, while a bundle of 
straw is a luxury to a beggar, or a parcel of rank-smelling 
sheepskins to a poor, tired and half-starved soldier upon a 
campaign. Having found a large copper boiler on the 
premises, such as the Mexican butchers use to melt lard in, 
some one suggested that as we had a good fire we might 
have a supper cooked in it for the whole guard. This was 
a very good idea; and a few active foragers were imme- 
diately despatched on a secret expedition for the purpose of 
levying contributions wherever they could be most easily 
collected. These were successful beyond expectation, speedily 
returning with supplies which gave us anticipations of a 
feast such as we had not beheld, except in dreams, for a 
long time previously. After an inspection of the stock of 
provisions on hand, with the very handsome additions made 
by our active and highly-intelligent party of foragers, for 
which they received high commendations, the dish which 
seemed best adapted to our circumstances, and which we 
agreed to have cooked, was a sort of gipsy hodge-podge or 
Salmagundi ; in fact a heterogeneous omnigatherum of all 
come-at-able comestibles. In the first place, we had a 
quantity of biscuit, the proceeds of the joint contributions of 
our havresacs, several pounds of bacon furnished by Go- 
vernment, having been procured without leave asked or 
obtained, from one of the wagons containing supplies for 
Uncle Sam's troops ; and further by supplies obtained by our 
party of foragers, one tur^cey, two fowls, a piece of mutton, 
some potatoes, chili peppers, tomatoes, and onrons. These 
various ingredients being first well cleaned, were cut into 



AN EVENING IN THE GUARD-HOUSE. 243 

pieces, and the whole compound being seasoned with salt 
and pepper, was afterwards boiled in the huge cauldron, 
which was propped in the centre of the floor by three stones, 
for the purpose of admitting the fire under it. After our 
potage had been sufficiently boiled, we resolved on inviting 
a few of our comrades to the feast, as it was evident that 
there would be at least twice as much as we could consume, 
and it would be a pity that any of our delicious fare should 
be lost. Accordingly every one bringing a comrade, we 
soon had an addition of ten or twelve more to our party, 
forming, about ten o'clock on the same night, a snug little 
party of about twenty. 

Everything went off admirably, as the phrase is. The 
dish or the mode of cooking it was not perhaps the most 
scientific, yet I am persuaded from the celerity with which 
it disappeared, and the apparent gusto that marked the pro- 
cess, that it was relished as highly and gave as much satis- 
faction as if it had been the most elaborate specimen of 
artistic cookery ever served up at the table of tb^ most 
aristocratic of the clubs of London. The hilarity of the 
evening was wonderfully augmented by the addiUon to our 
company of those comrades who had been invited ; for 
several of thern, having found their way into a liquor store 
in the evening, had filled their canteens with rnezcal^ a coarse 
and not very palatable spirituous liquor, but highly stimulat- 
ing and intoxicating, and therefore nectar to a soldier on 
occasions like the present. This liquor which they had 
brought with them, they now produced as their quota to the 
feast. To drink ardent spirits when upon guard is strictly 
forbidden by the rules of the service, but the absurd strict- 
ness of the prohibition renders it completely null. I must 
say that in the whole course of my experience I never knew 
or heard of a soldier refusing a glass of spirits while od 



244 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

guard, on tlie ground of its being an infringement of miliUiry 
discipline. Paradoxical as it may seem, I believe that tlie . 
utmost latitude permitted to the soldier in some of these 
matters, would, by producing habits of self-control, act as a 
far better preventive to the crime of drunkenness than the 
present system. Unless a soldier acquires the habit of self- 
control as regards the use or abuse of ardent spirits, (and no 
person has greater need to do so), prohibitions and threats 
of punishment are rather worse than useless — they are mis- 
chievous : but if he has acquired these habits, these prohibi- 
tions are not needed. 

On the present occasion, however, I felt that there was 
no danger of any of the present company rendering them- 
selves unfit for duty, as we were all well aware that we had 
work before us next day for which a night's debauch would 
be a sorry preparation. I have observed that men, careless 
of consequences on other occasions, are cautious of allowing 
themselves to become intoxicated before an expected engage- 
ment. This caution on the part of the soldier probably 
arises from a dread of the imputation of cowardice, and a 
fear of losing caste among his comrades, by making it seem 
as if he was seeking to supply a deficiency of native stamina 
and nerve, through the medium of a foreign and artificial 
stimulus and excitement. In some cases also it may be the 
result of a knowledge of the dangers of too free indulgence 
at a time when all require the perfect use of their faculties 
for the performance of their duties. Soldiers are mostly 
keenly sensitive to the ridicule of their companions, whose 
good opinion they generally esteem more highly than that 
of their oflficers. To stand well in the estimation of his 
special comrades, and of the company to which he belongs, 
is the most powerful incentive to the soldier's good conduct 
in the field of action ; and in the absence of a brave officei 



MILITARY REMEDY FOR INTEMPERANCE. 245 

to lead them to the attack, the love of Bill, Tom, or Harry's 
approbation, or the dread of being called a coward, has often 
been the means of gaining the battle. 

The following characteristic anecdote, which is highly 
illustrative of that fear of an imputation of cowardice by his 
comrades, which is such a marked trait in the soldier's 
character, and which seems to have been turned to excellent 
accoimt in the present instance, I heard related by one of 
ours who had served in the British Legion during the late 
Spanish war. A regiment of the British Legion, who were 
notorious for their too ardent devotion to Bacchus, unluckily 
for their health and discipline, happened to be quartered in 
a vicinity where brandy was too plentiful and easily procured. 
The colonel, being made aware of the case, tried several 
remedies without effect, and finally, he saw that, unless the 
men were convinced of the necessity of voluntary abstinence, 
no precaution that he could adopt would prevent his regi- 
ment from getting into a state of utter inefficiency. To add 
to his difficulties, he expected every day that they would 
have to join in an attack on the enemy's position, close to 
which the army lay, and he was afraid that if things con- 
tinued to go on in the way they were doing, both he and 
his regiment would reap nothing but disgrace. In this 
emergency he issued an order to his men, stating that he 
expected an engagement with the enemy shortly, and that 
he trusted the men would see the propriety of keeping them- 
selves sober until after the battle. For his own part he had 
come to the resolution, that any person of his regiment who 
should be reported drunk to him in the interval between 
the issuing of the order and the expected engagement, should 
be left tied in the camp along with the baggage until after 
it should be over. The fear of this dreaded disgrace operat- 
ed like a charm ; and though the action did not take place 



246 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

for near a fortnight after, there was not a single case of 
drunkenness during the interval, and his regiment was highly 
praised for its share in the action, in which the enemy were 
completely routed. 

To return to our convivial party in the guard-house, songs 
and toasts began to circulate with the aquadiente, while the 
expected battle of next day engrossed a considerable share 
of the conversation. " Come, my lads," said Corporal Bell, a 
north of Ireland man, who spoke in a broad Scotch dialect, 
" here's a toast — May the balls be divided to-morrow, the 
same as the pay and the honour." " Bravo ! Corporal Bell's 
song — a song from Corporal Bell, ' Bucking and Gagging,' "* 
shouted a dozen voices at once. " I say, boys," expostulated 
a sentry, looking in, "you had better not make just so much 
noise if you don't want the officer of the day here." " Ay, 
faith, freen, ye're no far wrong," said Corporal Bell, while 
handing him the canteen; "here, man, take a drap o' that 
to keep the could frae ye'r stomach. I say, lads," he con- 
tinued, addressing the party, " we had better ca' canny, or 
faith, we'll maybe hae some bucking and gagging instead o' 
singing aboot it." "Is it the night before a fight," cries 
Mike Ryan ; " by the holy fist of the blessed Saint Patrick, 
the mean schaming villians, that are so ready to ill use a 
poor devil at other times, are mighty kind an' civil them 
days. The devil a taste o' fear of any bucking an' gagging 
for this night any way ; so, if you plase. Corporal Bell, just 
favour the present company with a few verses." "Weel, 
lads, I'll just sing you a verse or twa aboot bucking an' 
gagging, an' then we maun toddle awa' an' tak' a bit sleep, 
an' be ready for our work in the morning." So saying he 

* A favourite mode of punishment in the American service. — Sea 
Chapter XXV. 



BUCKING AND GAGGING. 247 

commenced, in a good sonorous but subdued voice, to sing 
the following verses : — 

Come, all Yankee soldiers, give ear to my song, 
It is a short ditty, 'twill not keep you long ; 
It's of no use to fret on account of our luck, 
We can laugh, drink, and sing yet in spite of the buck. 

Derry down, <fec 

** Sergeant, buck him, and gag him," our officers cry, 
For each trifling offence which they happen to spy ; 
Till with bucking and gagging of Dick, Tom, and Bill, 
Faith, the Mexican ranks they have helped to fill. 

Derry down, <fec 

The treatment they give us, as all of us know, 
Is bucking and gagging for whipping the foe ; 
They buck us and gag us for malice or spite, 
But they're glad to release us when going to fight 

Derry down, <feo. 

A poor soldier's tied up in the sun or the rain, 
With a gag in his mouth till he's tortured with pain; 
Why I'm bless'd, if the eagle we wear on our flag. 
In its claws shouldn't carry a buck and a gag. 

Derry down, <fec. 

" What the devil is that V cried several voices at once, aa 
a loud rumbling noise resembling thunder, was heard. On 
opening the guard-room door the cause was soon apparent. 
The place where we had stabled our horses was an old 
.ickety shed, with a shingle roof supported by three rows 
of wooden posts, one on each side of the shed and one in 
the centre. Running along the centre of the shed, there 
was a long wooden trough to which our horses were fastened 
by the halters ; several of the horses had been fastened to 



248 ADVENTURE8 OF A SOLDIER II? MEXICO, 

the posts also, wliicli being rotten had given way, and a 
large j^ortion of the roof having fallen in on tLe top of the 
horses, they were kicking up a complete rumpus. A sentry, 
who was over the horses, was also jammed in among them, 
and we were afraid he would be injured. Cautioning him 
to remain quiet a little until we got a light, we speedily 
procured a lanthorn, and succeeded in extricating him safely, 
and also in unfastening and leading out the most entangled 
among the horses. Still as it was necessary to remove all the 
horses to some other place, it being evident that the remain- 
der of the shed would be pulled down if it were not speedily 
done, I thought best to acquaint the officer of the day. I, 
therefore, sent one of the guard to his quarters to tell him the 
condition of the shed, and to ask for instructions as to where 
the horses should be taken to. The officer sent word back 
to have the whole company roused and turned out, and that 
he would be over presently himself. Accordingly in a few 
minutes he arrived, and having given directions to stretch 
the picket rope in the plaza^ and lead the horses out and 
fasten them to it, in less than half-an-hom* everything was 
right again. On examining the horses, several of them 
were found to have received slight injuries, but nothing to 
render them unfit for duty next day. Our party having 
been thus suddenly dissolved did not assemble again, and 
desirous of recruiting Biy strength for the next day, I }ajf 
down to sleep. 



CHAPTER XXni 

The field of battle— King's Mill— The Execution— The pursuit. 

Next morning about 5 o'clock we were roused by the reveille 
bugle, and having fed our horses and taken breakfast, we 
were ordered to harness the horses, and hitch them in the 
carriages. Regiments of infantry continued to arrive and 
form in the Plaza until it and the adjacent streets w^ere 
crowded, and between V and 8 o'clock our force consisting 
of about five thousand infantry, two light batteries, and a 
squadron of dragoons, began the march for Contreras. The 
ground occupied by the enemy had been well reconnoitred 
on the previous day ; they were entrenched on the side of a 
hill on the left hand side of the road leading to the city 
where they had thrown up embankments of earth, and had 
a strong battery of very heavy guns. As it was evident that 
to go by the main road would expose us to the fire of this 
battery, which we had no means of returning with effect, 
General Scott had decided on approaching their position by 
a circuitous route. We therefore commenced our march 
down a country road, leading through orchards and corn- 
fields, while a great deal of caution was used in advancing, 
the division being halted every few minutes and skirmishers 
sent out in front and on the flanks. At last after ascending: 
a steep hill where we had some difiiculty with our battery, 
having to get a reg-iment of infantry with drag ropes to assist 
us in bringing up our guns and caissons, we came in sight 
of the enemy. We halted within two or three miles of them, 

11* 



250 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

while General Scott and liis staff ascended a hill on our 
right for the purpose of obtaining a good view of their posi- 
tion. After resting about ten minutes we received the order 
to move on to the attack. The Rifles and another infantry 
regiment, were directed to drive in a body of skirmishers 
occupying a cornfield about a mile and a half in front of the 
enemy's position, and between us and them. Our battery 
was to go on at the same time, and take up a position where 
it could annoy the enemy. When we came to the edge of 
the cornfield, to admit our battery we had to pull down a 
piece of wall built of large pieces of lava piled on one 
another in the manner in which they build dry stone walls, 
or what are called in Scotland dry stane dyJces. While we 
were busily engaged in pulling down the wall, which took 
us a few minutes, as the heavy masses of lava required 
several men to roll them one by one out of the way, the 
enemy commenced throwing large shells, a few of which 
dropped very near, but fortunately without doing us any 
injury. In the mean time General Twiggs, who, being in 
rear a little, did not perceive the cause of this delay, rode up, 
calling out, " Captain Magruder, why don't you go forward 
with the battery ?" " So I will, general, as soon as my men 
can remove a piece of the wall which our battery is surely 
'not expected to clear at a flying leap," was the reply of the 
captain. " Well, where are the rifles ?" the general asked, 
" why dont they drive in those Mexican vagabonds ; forward 
with the rifles ; forward with the rifles ; we must either make 
a spoon or spoil a horn this day." " Faith I doot some 'o 
us '11 no hae muckle mair use for a spoon after this day's 
wark's ower," drily remarked a Scotchman belonging to the 
rifles, who w^as helping to clear the w\ay for our battery. 
The rifles, and the other infantry regiment, scrambled over 
the wall as our battery began to move, and were soon busily 



A GAME AT LONG BOWLS. 251 

engaged with the. enemy, whose balls came whistling among 
us, wounding two of our riders, who had to fall to the 
rear. 

The field or plain over which we were advancing is strewed 
with large masses of lava. Between these we had to thread 
our way with the guns and caissons, sometimes brought to 
an abrupt halt by a mass of stubborn rock, over which we 
had to lift the carriages as if over a wall, the men lifting at 
the wheels and the horses whipped to their utmost exertions 
at the same time. At last after a great deal of exhausting 
fatigue we succeeded in planting our battery in front of the 
enemy, in a place where we could produce no impression on 
them unless they came out of their entrenchments, which 
they showed no disposition to do. Our guns were planted 
on a slight rise in front of the enemy, who were on the fuse 
of a rugged hill on the other side of the highway to Mexico, 
which passed nearly close to their breastworks. Our troops 
occupied a plain covered with large masses of lava, that 
afforded excellent cover to infantry in skirmishing, and a 
deep ravine crossed the bottom of the plain close to the road 
to Mexico. We fired twenty or thirty rounds at bodies of 
the enemy whom we could see drawn up as if they expected 
us to assault them immediately in front, but I think we must 
have been about a mile from them, as all our shots seemed 
to fall short. A division of the infantry under General 
Smith and Colonel Riley engaged with a body of the enemy ; 
they kept up a brisk fire of musketry all afternoon, but with- 
out coming to close quarters ; the enemy would not leave 
their entrenchments, and General Scott, it was evident, 
had not decided on the best mode of making the attack. 
The heavy guns of the enemy, among which were several 
long eighteens and twenty-four pounders, kept up an inces« 
sant fire during the whole afternoon. After the first half 



2§2 ADVENTURES OF A SGLDIER IN MEXICO. 

hour or so, tlie captain perceiving that our guns were useless 
at the distance we were from the enemy, ordered us to ceaso 
firing, bring our guns down ofi" the elevation they were 
placed on, and lie down on the ground. By this time one 
of our officers. Lieutenant Johnstone, was mortally wounded 
by a cannon ball, and another poor fellow called Flentitz, a 
German, had his leg shot off. Another cannon ball smashed 
the axle of one of our pieces, dismounting it and rendering 
it useless for the time, while two of our horses were killed, 
and a number of our men and horses injured by grape. 
They were now beginning to get our range, and nothing but 
their excessively bad firing had saved our battery from being 
totally annihilated during the half hour in which we had 
served as a target, while it was evident that our six-pounders 
were useless. We lay therefore completely inactive during 
the remainder of the afternoon, under cover of the risinar 
ground on which our battery had been placed. Indeed only 
a small portion of our troops were engaged, and I suspect 
the whole affair of the afternoon was only a feint for tho 
purpose of discovering the easiest plan of assault. 

At the commencement of the engagement, and as we were 
all busily employed in the loading and firing our guns, an 
infantry sergeant passing within a short distance of our 
battery, was observed to drop suddenly as if he had been 
struck by a shot. After the firing was over some of the men 
went to see if he was dead, or if any assistance could be 
rendered him. He appeared to have been dead for some time, 
but there was no mark of a wound on any part of his body. 
A small quantity of blood came from his mouth, nostrils, and 
even from his ears, and it was supposed that a large ball 
passing close to his head had caused his death. 

At sunset the firing ceased and a heavy cold rain succeeded, 
lasting the whole of that night, and making it a most wretched 



A HARD night's WORK. 253 

night for a bivouac. To add to our misfortunes we were 
all suffering grievously from tliirst, and there was no water 
within a mile whereof we were. About nine o'clock our 
captain received an order to retire on the division by the 
same way in which we had come. This was very foolish, as 
the night was so dark that it was impossible to see a yard in 
front. But orders whether foolish or not must be obeyed, 
though it is hard to hinder soldiers from grumbling, and 
there was plenty of it at this order, of which every one saw 
the absurdity. At last our men having been collected from 
various nooks and corners, and our guns limbered up, wo 
commenced our singular march to the rear. After toiling 
for about six hours, and breaking and damaging the wheels 
and carriages, and utterly exhausting both men and horses 
in trying to force the wheels over impracticable masses of 
lava, we were compelled to desist after moving about four 
or five hundred yards. We then sat or lay down on the 
grass, our clothes clinging to us with wet, and the rain still 
pouring, yet so thoroughly were we tired with our fruitless 
toil that we slept soundly for two or three hours. We were 
roused at day-break and continued our march to the rear 
with comparative ease, as we now could distinguish objects 
for a few yards round us, and before sunrise we had gained 
^he division. 

The rain had now ceased, and about ten minutes after oiiT 
arrival at the division several shots were heard from the 
enemy's battery followed by a brisk fire of musketry. On 
getting up on the top of our caisson boxes we could see a 
body of infantiy approaching the flank nearest San Augus- 
tine of the enemy's position. They advanced at a quick 
pace loading and firing as they advanced, and receiving a fire 
of musketry from the Mexican infantry. But none of the 
guns of the battery could be brought to bear upon them ; tho 



254 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

Mexicans had been completely taken by surprise, never having 
dreamed of an assault in that direction. As our infantry 
approached within a hundred or two hundred yards of their 
breastworks, we could see the Mexicans break and run in the 
utmost confusion, scrambling over the breastworks and out 
on the road to Mexico. Such was the battle of Contreras ; 
and the time occupied in the assault, in which about two 
hundred volunteers and half disciplined soldiers, routed thrice 
their number of Mexican troops stationed behind formidable 
entrenchments, was about five minutes. 

The brigade of General Smith, principally composed of 
volunteers, have the credit of this assault. These troops 
had been marched by a long and difiicult route in the wet 
dark night to a position where they lay ready to flank and 
surprise the enemy as soon as it became sufficiently light for 
operations. Colonel Riley and General Smith led their men 
gallantly to the assault, which cost the assaulting party a 
merely trifling loss in killed and wounded compared with 
the enemy, who are said to have had upwards of VOO killed 
on the field. About 1800 prisoners were taken, and eighteen 
guns, besides an immense quantity of ammunition. 

The whole of our troops were immediately put in motion 
to follow up the success by pursuing the flying enemy, 
towards the city of Mexico. As for our battery our captain 
considered it necessary to allow the horses a rest, as they were 
so weak from the exertions of the previous day and night, 
that they could scarcely stand. We remained therefore in 
the neighbourhood of Contreras until the afternoon, most of 
the men lying on the grass, and sleeping undisturbed by the 
ceaseless booming of the cannon and roll of musketry which 
told us of another ena^ao-ement four or five miles in front. 

About five miles from Contreras on the highway to the 
city, Santa Anna had strongly fortified a small village called 



FATE OF THE DESERTERS. 255 

Churubusco. Tliis, our division, wliicli had followed up the 
flying* enemy from Contreras, assisted General Worth's divi- 
sion in carrying- after an Obstinate resistance, which lasted 
five or six hours. The loss suffered by our army at this 
battle of Churubusco amounted to 500 in killed and wounded, 
of whom a more than usual proportion were officers. The 
regiment to which I belonged had five officers killed and 
several wounded in this engagement ; among the killed were 
Captains Burke and Capron, the former of whom enlisted 
me, the latter had charge of the company to which I be- 
longed until promoted a few months before to the captaincy 
of another company. Among the prisoners taken at this 
engagement were seventy deserters from the American army. 
They were tried by a general Court Martial shortly after the 
battle, and being found guilty of the crime of desertion were 
sentenced to be hung, which sentence was carried into exe- 
cution in presence of a portion of the troops shortly before 
we entered the city. I sincerely pitied these poor fellows, 
many of whom I had reason to believe had been driven to 
the foolish step they had taken by harsh and cruel usage, 
operating on a sensitive and excitable temperament. The 
barbarous treatment which soldiers sometimes received from 
ignorant and brutal officers, and non-commissioned officers, 
on that campaign, were I to relate it in minute detail, would 
seem almost incredible. I have frequently seen foolish young 
officers violently strike and assault soldiers on the most slight 
provocation ; while to tie them up by the wrist, as high as 
their hands would reach, with a gag in their mouths, was a 
•common punishment for trivial offences. In fact such a bad 
state of feeling seemed to exist between men and officers 
throughout the service that I was not surprised that it should 
lead to numerous desertions. If our men had not known 
how utterly wretched was the condition of soldiers in the 



.256 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO, 

Mexican service, deserting to which was literally jumping 
out of the frying-pan into the fire, I believe that numerous 
as these desertions were they #fOuld have been infinitely 
more so. These deserters were considered a principal cause 
of the obstinate resistance which our troops met at Churu- 
busco, two or three attempts of the Mexicans to hoist a white 
flag having been frustrated by some of them, who killed the 
Mexicans attempting to display it. The large number of 
officers killed in the aflfair was also ascribed to them, as for 
the gratification of their revenge they aimed at no other 
objects during the engagement. 

In the evening our battery moved to Churubusco, and 
next day we were sent along with our division to a small 
village called Miscoac, about two miles from Churubusco, 
and about the same distance, four miles, from the city. 
There we were quartered in one end of a church, a regiment 
of infantry called Voltigeurs, occupying the other end. A 
few days after the battle, Santa Anna and General Scott 
agreed to an armistice, the former General pretending that 
he was inclined to come to terms and conclude the war on 
the basis of an honourable treaty of peace. For agreeing to 
this armistice General Scott was much blamed at the time 
by many of the men, as it was said that we could easily have 
taken the city if we bad followed up our success after the 
biittles of Contreras and Churubusco. I have no doubt that 
we could have done so, although I am inclined to think that 
tbe difficulty of restraining our troops from the commission 
of excess, would have been much greater if our success had 
been followed up at that tim.e. A collision between the mass 
of the inhabitants and our troops in that case would most 
likely have ensued, which would have engendered a hostile 
spirit of opposition that might have embittered and prolonged 
the war, of which the Americans were now almost as ttred as 



AN ARMISTICE. 257 

the Mexicans. By snowing a desire for peace after these vic- 
tories, he secured tlie good will of many of the influential 
inhabitants, and I believe it is chiefly owing to the spirit of 
conciliation and moderation displayed by General Scott 
throughout the whole of the campaign that America owes 
iiiQ speedy and honourable termination of the war. 

The principal terms of the armistice were that neither 
army should erect any fortifications nor receive any reinforce- 
ments of troops without giving the other army forty-eight 
hours' notice. Our army was also to be furnished with 
supplies of provisions and forage from the city. But Santa 
Anna, who only wanted to gain time, had thousands of 
soldiers employed in digging ditches and making fortifica- 
tions of earth at various points of the city, parties of them 
working day and night under his own direction. About the 
fourth or fifth of August a party of our waggons, in agi'ce- 
ment with one of the conditions of the armistice, having 
been sent into the city for supplies of forage and provisions, 
the drivers were attacked by a crowd of people with stones, 
and a number of them severely injured. A party of Mexican 
soldiers were tardily sent to their rescue, who protected them 
out of the city. General Scott now declared the armistice 
to be at an end. 

On the morning of the 9th August, General Worth's divi- 
sion, which was quartered at Tacubaya, according to orders, 
previously received, proceeded to make an attack on Molino 
del Rey (The King's mill). The enemy, it was believed, had a 
foundry for casting cannons there, besides a great quantity 
of military stores. It was also considered necessary to have 
it i-n possession before proceeding to the reduction of Chapul- 
tepee, to which it formed a strong outwork. The attack 
commenced a little before sunrise, but the enemy having 
been informed of this early visit, had drawn all their troops 



258 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

from tlie city during the night, who were posted in the most 
advantageous manner. Accordine'lv on the advance of oui 

O CD t/ 

troops they received a most destructive fire, which compelled 
them to fall back, leaving the field covered with their killed 
and wounded. The Mexican lanoers exhibited most charac- 
teristically both their cowardice and cruelty of disposition 
on this occasion, by riding out and killing the wounded who 
were lying on the field, while they never attempted to follow 
up the broken line of infantry who had been compelled to 
retire. But our troops though discouraged were not beaten, 
and after a fight of two hours, the Mexicans, who were at 
least four times their number, retreated, leaving them in 
possession of the field. The victory, though proving the 
immense superiority of our troops to those of the enemy, 
was a dear one, our loss in killed and wounded being 
between eight and nine hundred out of a force engaged 
numbering little more than three thousand. 

About an hour after the commencement of the action our 
battery was ordered to be got ready and to hurry out to the 
gi'ound. Miscoac, where we lay, is about four miles from 
Molino del Rey^ and the road being rough and up hill a 
good part of the way, it took us nearly an hour to reach it. 
One of our men not holding on firmly while galloping over 
the rough road was thrown off" the caisson box, and a wheel 
passing over his body broke two or three of his ribs and 
otherwise severely injured him. But our battery was short 
of men, and the captain could spare nobody to attend him, so 
he was left by the roadside in a seemingly dying state. He 
recovered, however, and was discharged in consequence of 
the internal injuries he had received. As we entered the 
battle ground we met a number of waggons returning with 
wounded, and a few wounded soldiers walking slowly, assist- 
ed by one or two comrades. There was an occasional gun 



MOLINO DEL REY. 259 

fired from the castle of Chapiiltepec, and a party of our 
infantry kept up a skirmishing fire with a few of the enemy 
who were in the woods round the hill on which the castle 
is built, but the battle was evidently over. We unlirabered 
our guns and fired several shots at a large body of lancers 
who were hovering on our left flank, when they suddenly 
wheeled to the right-about. " I wish, captain, you would let 
them come a little nearer the next time ; you scared them 
rather too soon," said General Cadwallader, who came up 
as the lancers rode off". A powder magazine belonging to 
the enemy, but in our possession at the time, blew up with a 
tremendous explosion, killing and wounding a great number 
of our men who were in its vicinity. We remained on the 
field, with several regiments of infantry and cavalry, until 
about noon, when we received orders to retire. 

On the morning of the 12 th of August our battery moved 
along with General Pillow's division to the field of Molino 
del Rey ; our division being stationed there for the purpose 
of protecting a heavy battery advantageously planted in the 
vicinity for the bombardment of Chapultepec. This castle, a 
strong stone building, well furnished Avith artillery and am- 
munition, is built on the top of an insulated rocky hill, 
wooded from the base about half way up. As it commanded 
the entrance to the city on that side, it was considered essen- 
tial that it should be taken. At daybreak on the morning 
of the 12th, our mortars opened on it and continued to 
throw heavy shells into it until night, by which time the 
havoc among the troop inside must have been very great, 
judging from the appearance of the building after the action. 
After the firing had ceased in the evening General Pillow 
addressed his men, telling them that they were to assault 
the castle early next morning, when he said he had no doubt 
they would easily carry it at the point of the bayonet in less 



260 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

than half an hour ; which intimation the soldiers received 
with three cheers. 

The duty assigned our battery was to approach the bottom 
of the hill of Chapultepec and throw in shells and round 
shot into the wood and up the face of the hill, for the pur- 
pose of driving in the enemy and affording a footing to our 
assaulting -partj. We accordingly placed our guns that 
evening in the position they were to occupy next morning, 
and shortly after sunrise we received orders to commence 
firing. An ill-directed fire of musketry from the enemy's 
outlying piquets stationed in the woods, reached us as we 
commenced firing, slightly wounding several of our men. 
But a few shells thrown in the right direction soon removed 
that source of annoyance, and where we were the guns of 
the castle could not be depressed sufiiciently to bear on us. 
We continued to fire until we had thrown over a hundred 
shots into the grounds, when we were told to cease firing and 
allow the infantry to advance. Two or three regiments of 
infantry, among whom I recognised the regiment of Volti- 
geurs who had been stationed with us in the church since the 
battle of Contreras, now advanced, some of them carrying a 
ladder between two of them besides their guns and bayonets. 
To get into the grounds they had to scale a wall about six or 
seven feet high, and with the aid of the ladders they were 
soon all over, and advancing under cover of the huge trees 
towards the open rocky ground half way up the hill. 

While the action was going on here at Chapultepec, a 
strangely horrible scene was being enacted under General 
Twiggs at Miscoac, the small town in which our di^^sion had 
been quartered during the armistice. Twenty of the desert- 
ers who were taken at Churubusco had been brought out on 
a plain for execution. General Twiggs commanding the troops 
appointed to witness the sentence carried into effect. From 



A DOSE OF GRAPE. 2G1 

the plain where they were to be executed they had a view of 
the castle of Chapiiltepec about three miles distant, and 
could hear the sound of the firing, and see distinctly the 
smoke of the guns and muskets of its defenders and assail- 
ants, and here they were launched into eternity. 

AVhile the infantry advanced on the castle we hitched the 
horses into the battery and stood waiting to pursue the 
enemy, who we were confident would not make a long re- 
sistance, as the bombardment of the previous day had done 
great execution on the building. The firing from the castle 
soon commenced on our assaulting party, who at first suf- 
fered severely, but after about two hours' hard fighting they 
scaled the steep ascent and drove the enemy from the ram- 
parts. General Bravo and several hundred of the Mexican 
soldiers were taken prisoners in the castle. The remainder 
of the garrison escaped by the opposite side of the castle 
from which our ti'oops entered, and ran in confusion along 
the highway to the city. Just as we commenced to follow 
in pursuit, a shower of grape from the castle killed two 
horses and wounded several others, while almost miraculously 
their riders did not receive the slightest injury. The shot 
came from a gun at an angle of the castle, which continued 
to fire for some time after our men had gained the ramparts, 
and until our men had shot down the most of those who 
were working it. This delayed our battery several minutes 
imtil we cut the harness and hauled the horses to one side 
of the road. Near the place where this accident occurred 
the enemy had cut a trench across the road, which delayed 
us some time until it was filled up. While a party of infim- 
try were at work filling up the trench, two citizens of the 
class called army followers rode over to where three Mexican 
soldiers were endeavouring to conceal themselves behind 
some bushes about a quarter of a mile oflf the road, Tha 



2'62 ADVENTURES OF A GOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

Mexicans, who were probably wounded and unable to fly 
with the rest of the garrison, got upon their knees in the 
attitude of supplication, when these inhuman scoundrels 
deliberately shot them down by firing repeated shots of their 
revolvers. A loud murmur of disapprobation at this atro- 
ciously savage act burst from the soldiers on the road who 
observed it, and a ball from an infantry soldier's musket 
whistled past their ears as they approached the road. On 
their return they received a shower of curses and epithets, 
showing the detestation in which their infamous conduct was 
held. 

The ditch being filled up we continued the pursuit of the 
flying enemy, and as we went at a fast gallop we had soon 
left the infantry far behind, and found ourselves entirely 
unsupported. A large body of the enemy's cavalry were 
now perceived advancing on us from the city ; we imme- 
diately unlimbered and began to fire shell and round shot 
among them with the utmost rapidity, when they made 
a precipitate retreat. Several riderless horses scouring wildly 
over the fields on our left, which none of them stayed to 
catch, and which were valuable prizes to some of our infan- 
try afterwards, showed us that our firing had made an 
impression, and explained the reason of their sudden change 
of purpose. If these lancers had charged us boldly, they 
could have cut us to pieces and taken possession of our 
battery with ease, as we had no support Avithin a mile of us. 
Our company only numbered at that time about sixty men, 
armed with sabres, which none of them knew how to use, 
and which would have been a poor defence against their 
lances. A body of cavalry and infantry arriving soon after, 
we continued our march until we arrived at the suburbs of 
the city. Here our battery and a regiment of infantry were 
posted to defend a road leading to Toluco, on which a large 



ROUT OF THE MEXICANS. 263 

body of the enemy's cavalry had been observed moving oif 
in the morning. Colonel Duncan's battery and a regiment 
of infantry were now engaged in driving the enemy from the 
San Cosmo gate, half a mile nearer the city. Here the 
enemy had a breastwork of earth built across the road, 
behind which were two nine-pounders. There was also a 
mortar on the flat roof of a house on the left of the gate, 
several shells from which dropped into our position, killing 
and wounding a number of the infantry stationed with us to 
defend the entrance to the city from Toluco. This was also 
carried after two or three hours' fighting, leaving us in com- 
plete possession of that entrance to the city. 

Generals Worth and Quitman had commenced their attack 
on the opposite side of the city early in the morning, and 
after driving the enemy from several of their outworks in 
succession, had succeeded after a severe fight in carrying the 
citadel by assault. The latter was the enemy's stronghold, 
where they had a strong battery of heavy guns, and after it 
was taken the Mexican troops retired in disorder from the 
city by the Penon and Guadaloupe gates, having utterly 
abandoned all idea of further resistance. Their large army 
of 18,000 men was now completely scattered and disorgan- 
ized, and this by a force not exceeding one-third of their 
number, acting as assailants, and having to drive them from 
strong fortifications. Santa Anna, according to his usual 
custom, retired with a strong body of cavalry before our 
troops had gained possession of the citadel. He has not 
entered the capital since, and I question if all his cunning 
will ever be sufficient to reinstate him in the good opinions 
of any large or influential class of his countrymen again. 
Some desultory fighting took place on the following day, the 
14th, between our troops and parties of patriots, principally 
criminals who had been released from their cells and sta 



;64 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

lioned in the steeples of churches for the purpose. These 
were soon quelled, and before night the city was perfectly- 
quiet, and considered quite securely in our possession. 
General Scott entered the city on the 14th, the day after the 
battle of Chapultepec and the storming of the citadel. By 
his excellent arrangements in quartering his troops in the 
suburbs for a few days, he succeeded in securing order, and 
preserving his men from those excesses which might have 
been apprehended from the description of troops under hm 
command. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Ravages of "War — Entry into San Cosmo — Character of the popu- 
lation — Markets — ^The cemetery. 

We had now readied tlie halls of the Montezumas, and still 
the honourable peace, with the sole design of conquering 
■which America protested she had taken up arms, seemed to 
elude our grasp. The legislative body had retired to Quere- 
taro, vowing war to the knife, and it was said that a con- 
siderable portion of the routed army had collected there also. 
In the meantime they were fortifying Queretaro, and pre- 
paring for another struggle ; and, according to the current 
opinion, the war, so far from being ended, was only just 
commencing. But just at present the patriots might debate, 
and the troops might fortify at their leisure, our force was 
small enough to garrison the capital without marching on 
new conquests. These victories, gained with ease, if one 
takes into account the number of the enemy, and the 
advantages of their position, had not been altogether without 
cost. In the short space of six weeks, our force had de- 
creased from ten thousand effective men with which wc left 
Puebla, to little more than six thousand on entering the city 
of Mexico. In the various actions fought in the vicinity of 
the city during that time, we had lost in killed and wounded 
upwards of two thousand, and the deaths from disease and 
the large number of sick reduced our total effective strength 
to little more than six thousand. In our short campaign of 
about a year and a half, General Scott's expedition alone, it 

12 



266 ADVENTTJRES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

is said, cost the lives of at least ten thousand men ; the pro- 
portion of those who died of sickness being as four to one of 
those killed or who died in consequence of wounds received 
in action. I saw a statement in an American paper estimat- 
ing the loss of life incurred by the States during the whole 
war with Mexico at thirty thousand. Five thousand of 
these were said to have died on the field and of wounds 
received, and the remainder of the diseases incidental to the 
campaign. 

Nearly all the houses in the suburbs of the city outside of 
the San Cosmo gate, had been deserted by their inhabitants, 
many of them evidently very hurriedly, as they still con- 
tained quantities of furniture, books, pictures, and other 
valuable articles. A number of wealthy people had resided 
in that quarter, the only suburb containing similar residences 
ip. the city. From a feeling of curiosity I entered one of 
these houses with several soldiers belonging to our battery 
on the morning after the city was taken. It had belonged 
to a General of the Mexican army, whose family had just 
quitted it when they saw the Mexican flag pulled down from 
the castle of Chapultepec. A number of oil paintings, 
chiefly on religious subjects, and a large collection of books 
in the Spanish language in rich bindings, among which I 
recognised Don Quixote, with illustrations, lay scattered in 
confusion on the tables and floors, with the litter of all the 
drawers in the apartment. Among other articles we ob- 
served a number of children's dresses, and a variety of- toys 
and dolls. 1 could scarce help thinking what an event in 
those children's lives who were old enousrh to retain the 
impression, the arrival of los Americanos^ the fightings in 
the vicinity, and their hurried flight from home would seem, 
when they grew old. It will form a theme for them to recur 
to during the remainder of their lives. A number of sol* 



THE CAPTURED CITY. 2G7 

diers, most of wlioin seemed actuated by curiosity more than 
love of acquisition, strolled through the different apartments. 
Occasionally a soldier would select a few articles, intending 
to carry them off, but on reflecting on the trouble he would 
have in taking care of them, they were again pitched down 
on the floor. A number of the chairs and tables, and a large 
mirror, had been broken in sheer wantonness by some of our 
men. I saw one fellow, after examining admiringly a very 
handsome cabinet of finely-polished wood, exquisitely ve- 
neered and inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ivory, seize a leg 
of a broken chair and deliberately smash it to pieces, 
exclaiming at the same time, " D — n you, if I can't have 
you nobody else shall." 

For a few days after the entrance of our troops into 
Mexico, the shops were all closed, with the exception of one 
here and there, and the prevailing aspect of the place was 
that of a deserted city. But in less than a week things had 
assumed their usual appearance, the shops being all open, 
and the streets busily thronged with population. The 
officers and soldiers of our army also thronged the principal 
thoroughfares, gratifying their curiosity by an inspection of 
the celebrated architectural features of the splendid city. 
For several weeks after our entrance, a number of the houses 
continued to display the flag of some foreign nation fi'om 
their roofs or windows, as a signal of their neutrality and a 
claim for protection. Among these, the English, the French, 
and the Spanish, predominated ; but the flags of almost eveiy 
European nation were to be seen flying from some of the 
buildings. From all that I observed or learned, however, 
those houses which displayed none were respected equally 
with those which did. There were a few, and only a few, 
isolated attempts at plundering by small parties of ruffians, 
some of whom are always ready to seize the opportunity 



268 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

offered by these occasions. But these parties were equally 
discouraged, many of their number being shot by the 
inhabitants, who defended their property bravely, when they 
found the scoundrels trying to force into their premises ; 
showing that even Mexicans will fight, when they have 
something worth fighting for. In fact for several nights 
after our victory, the number of dead bodies of soldiers found 
on the streets, was a proof that midnight robbery and plun- 
der was about as difficult, and fully more dangerous, than in 
many cities of the States. To put a stop to these proceed- 
ings, strong patrols were sent through the streets at night, 
to apprehend soldiers found out of their quarters, and for the 
preservation of good order, and the security of life and 
property. These measures tended to assure the inhabitants 
of General Scott's good intentions ; and in a very short time 
the most complete confidence was restored, and the inha- 
bitants and soldiers mingled everywhere on mutual good 
terms. That a number of individual cases of ruffianism did 
occur during the campaign it would be absurd to deny. I 
believe scoundrelism exists to a large extent in the best 
constituted armies ; but considering the description of troops 
of which our army was composed, and the loose state of 
discipline prevalent, I think the crimes and outrages com- 
mitted by our army were comparatively few. I would even 
go further, and say that I think the army at large deserve 
credit for the general tenor of their conduct towards the 
inhabitants throughout the whole of the campaign. A 
considerable i:)ortion of this result may be justly ascribed to 
the conciliatory system adopted and uniformly acted upon 
by General Scott. 

After remaining at the gate of San Cosmo for a few days, 
our battery moved into the city, where we found tolerable 
quarters in a large Meson. On entering the city, Genera] 



THE CITY OF MEXICO. 269 

Scott demanded from the Mexican authorities, the 8um of 
200,000 dollars, as compensation for the hardships suffered 
by the troops in taking the city, and as the price of the pro- 
tection extended by the American army to all descriptions 
of property. One half of this sum was to be expended for 
the benefit of the sick soldiers, and those doing duty were to 
be furnished with a new blanket and two pairs of boots each 
with the other half. The Mexican Ayuntayniento (town 
council) cheerfully complied with this moderate demand, 
very glad apparently to escape so easily. We had now 
leisure to take a walk occasionally through this strange city, 
which so intimately blends the extremes of splendour and 
squalor, dirt and grandeur. Of some of the more prominent 
features in it I will attempt to give an idea, though perfectly 
aware how utterly inadequate all description of mine is to 
convey anything like a correct impression of the city as a 
whole. 

The city of Mexico, which was commenced in 1524, is 
built on piles.. The streets are sufficiently ^vide, and run 
nearly north and south, east and west, intersecting each 
other at right angles. They are all well paved, and have 
side walks of flat stones, which are worn so smooth as to be 
quite slippery, and in some places rather dangerous to the 
incautious pedestrian. In looking along any of the streets 
in Mexico, the fronts of several churches or other religious 
buildings are prominent objects from almost any point of view. 
The quaint, old-feshioned, and mixed style of architecture 
peculiar to these buildings, which are usually highly orna- 
mented with carving and sculpture, and painted with the most 
brilliant colours, which the purity of the atmosphere pre- 
serves unimpaired for a long time (charcoal being the only 
fuel consumed in Mexico), gives a highly picturesque appear- 
ance to the streets, such as I have never seen in any other 



270 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

city. The public squares are spacious, and surrounded by 
buildings of hewn stone, and of very good architecture. The 
private buildings being constructed either of porous aniygda- 
loid, or of porphyry, have an air of solidity, and even of 
gi'andeur. They are of three and four stories high, with flat 
terrace roofs, and many of them are ornamented with iron 
balconies. The houses of Mexico are all square, with open 
courts. The corridors or piazzas of these courts are orna- 
mented with large porcelain vases, in which are planted the 
most beautiful and rare flowers and evergreens that money 
can procure. A magnifico who owned one of these houses 
had retired with his family to a country residence, when our 
troops were attacking the city ; and, as was customary at 
that time, one of our Generals entered into possession of it. 
The owner had left the principal part of his furniture in the 
house, ^hich appeared to give him no concern ; but he came 
frequently to look at his flowers, and finally sent a servant 
to live there for the purpose of attending to them. He said 
they had cost him 2,000 dollars, and he would not part with 
them for double that sum. Many of those courts have 
fountains in the centre, which, with the shade of the high 
buildings surrounding, and the flowers and evergreens ranged 
along the balustrades, or projecting from the railings of the 
piazza, give a refreshing coolness to their seclusion. The 
entrances to these houses lead through magnificent arch- 
ways in the centre of the buildings, generally from ten to 
fifteen feet high, and surmounted by carved and projecting 
pediments. These are closed at night by large folding gates, 
three or four inches thick, and studded with large bolts of 
iron, or covered with plates of the same metal, or of copper. 
A small postern, which opens inside, is used until morning, 
and is attended by a domestic called the porteria, until all 
the household have retired for the night. All the lower 



LADHONES AND LEI»EROS. C71 

windows, and in many cases tliose in the secoiul story also, 
are guarded by iion bars — a precaution common tbi-ougliout 
the whole country, where a man's house is his castle in the 
most literal sense of the term. But these precautions are 
indispensable, as there are no banks or issues of paper money 
in Mexico ; and merchants and gentlemen have consequently 
immense quantities of specie in their houses, amounting to 
hundreds of thous^inds of dollars in many cases. Indians 
may be seen in some of tlie business-streets, trudging along 
with bags of dollars on their shoulders, at all hours of the 
day — of course they are always in charge of a clerk or other 
responsible agent. 

Such are the palaces of the rich : the abodes of poverty 
are not in the interior of the city. Reversing the usual 
custom of England and America, the suburbs are almost 
wholly occupied by the lowest portion of the community, 
the ladrones and lejjeros (the thieves and beggars), with 
the lower class of itinerant vendors of paltry commodities, 
and labourers. It is calculated that 20,000 of the inhabit- 
ants of this capital, the population of which does not exceed 
150,000, have no permanent place of abode, and no ostensi- 
ble means of gaining a livelihood. After passing the night, 
sometimes in the open air, sometimes under cover, they issue 
forth in the morning to prey upon the community. If they 
are fortunate enough to gain more than they require to 
maintain themselves for a day, they get drunk on pulque 
and mezcal, a brandy distilled from pulque, wrap themselves 
up in their blanket, and lie down under a church porch, or 
any convenient shelter that may offer. 

The ladrones are the sharpers and higher class of pick- 
pockets in Mexico. They go well dressed, and would 
scarcely be taken for thieves by their appearance, except by 
a person acquainted with their habits. They are very de2- 



272 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

teroiis in levying contributions upon the public ; and some 
of their ingenious stratagems, having that object in view, 
would do no discredit to the genius of a London or Parisian 
adept. The leper os are the canaille of rascaldom ; they com- 
bine the professions of thief and beggar ; they want the 
inventive genius of the ladrones, fly at lower game, and have 
a dirty and suspicious appearance, that would put an obser- 
vant person on his guard. It is said that they are occasion- 
ally employed by the rich and jealous to put a successful 
rival out of the way, or to revenge some insult, after the 
manner of Spain and Italy. When our troops first entered 
the city, a great number of our men fell by the knives of 
these miscreants, being stabbed by them when strolling 
intoxicated through the suburbs and low quarters of the city 
at night. In fact, so numerous were these street assassina- 
tions for several nights, that General Scott issued an order 
adverting to the fact, and cautioning soldiers against leaving 
their quarters, unless in small parties and well armed. But 
a more effectual check was put to this evil by the men 
themselves, a number of whom, irritated by these cowardly 
assassinations, resolved on applying the lex talionis, and 
sacrificing a few of those fiends to the manes of theh' 
slaughtered comrades. Armed with bowie-knives and re- 
volvers, several of them sallied forth late at night, and 
counterfeiting the actions of drunkenness, they killed a 
number of those whom they suspected of designs of that 
nature. This was a harsh remedy ; but desperate diseases 
require desperate remedies. Certain it is that this mode of 
treatment operated an effectual cure, as the leperos grew 
very shy of approaching drunken soldiei-s afterwards, or even 
of being out in the streets at a late hour. After this there 
were few cases of soldiers being stabbed in the streets; but 
during the eight months our army occupied the city, it waa 



MEN OF LETTERS. 273 

an invariable practice of tlie soldier in walkfng the streets 
alone late at niglit, to draw his weapon, sabre, bayonet, or 
pistol, and in suspicious places to prefer the middle of the 
road. 

A very disgusting feature in the street scenery of Mexico 
while we lay there, was the number of drunken Indians and 
Mexicans of low caste, both male and female, who roamed 
the streets in a state of beastly intoxication. They were 
often to be seen lying across the footwalks of the most public 
streets and thoroughfares, especially in the vicinity of the 
market, dead drunk, and often in a state of almost complete 
nudity. The police seemed to take no notice of them, and 
they were allowed to wallow there like hogs until sufficiently 
recovered to get up and stagger off. 

The letter-writers, Evangelistas^ whose occupation consists 
of writing letters, memorials, petitions, &c., for those who 
have not acquired the art and mystery of writing, are a 
numerous and notable class in Mexico. Thirty or forty of 
them were constantly to be found ranged along the edge of 
the parapet, in a street adjoining the market, seated on 
stools, and with small tables in front of them placed on the 
carriage-road. Their stock in trade consists of a basket 
containing a few sheets of paper, pens, and ink-horns. They 
write a very plain and distinct hand, but they write slow, 
and ornament their writing by a profusion of flourishes, as 
all Mexican clerks do. A sheet of paper containing a speci- 
men of their handwriting is usually exhibited on the table 
where they sit. To judge from their appearance, they did 
not appear to be a very thriving craft. But as my comrade 
Bill Nutt remarked, while commenting on their poverty- 
stricken appearance, "An armed republic is not the i)]ace 
for the encouragement of men of letters." 

In front of all the churches, in all of which mass is cele- 

12* 



274 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

brated daily, tkere were always congregated a multitude of 
beggars, exposing deformities and frightful ulcers, and 
chanting with endless monotony their " caridad por Vamor 
de JDieu'^ (charity for the love of God). Many of them were 
cripples who had lost their limbs in the civil wars and revo- 
lutions, of such frequent recurrence lately in Mexico. Their 
number had also been augmented by the late battles with 
our troops. I have frequently seen them hold up the stump 
of an amputated arm, or leg, when an American officer or 
soldier was passing, and repeat the names of the engage- 
ments in which they had lost them, as " Cerro Gordo," 
" Chapultepec," &c., adding a few imprecations on Santa 
Anna, an ingenious ruse, which often extracted a few clacos 
from their generous victors. Soldiers disabled while serving 
in the army are specially permitted by the Government to 
beg, as a compensation for the wounds they have received 
in the service of the republic. Certainly a most economical 
mode of quartering pensioners on the public, and a practical 
illustration of the voluntary system, remarkable in a nation 
so fixv behind in the doctrines of our modern political 
economists. 

The market is a spacious square near the Plaza, with a 
tall column in the centre, on which stands a statue of Santa 
Anna. Fruits and vegetables are the staple commodities of 
which the supply is most abundant. The stalls are formed 
in lines facing each other, leaving ample space between the 
rows for purchasers. They are decked with a variety of 
beautiful tlowers, which are always in great demand for the 
adornment of shrines, or to grace a festival or a funeral. 
From nine to eleven o'clock in the forenoon the buzz and 
bustle of the place are at their height, at which time it pre- 
sents a very animated appearance, being thronged with 
Mexicans of every class and colour, from the pure Spanish 



PDLQUERIAfi. 275 

haughty-looking senora, down to the poor, shrinking, bare 
footed, elfin-looking and half-naked Indian girls, with their 
baskets of fruits or vegetables. English potatoes are sold 
here at about twopence a pound. They are of very good 
quality, but from, their dearness in comparison with other 
commodities, the yield is probably very small. Cabbages, 
turnips, and other vegetables of the English garden, are 
plentiful and moderately cheap. Of fruits, I saw abundance 
of apples, peaches, pears, and other fruits of temperate 
climates, with almost every variety of tropical fruits. The 
quantities of capsicums, and peppers of every shape, size, 
and colour, which one sees in a market in Mexico, seem to 
a European most ludicrously disproportionate to the rest of 
the commodities. Huge baskets of them meet the eye 
everywhere, or they are piled up in heaps on a mat, or piece 
of coarse cloth on the ground. These peppers, which they 
call chili, are, when dried and ground, the cayenne pepper 
used in England. All classes of the inhabitants use them to 
almost every article of food, and every tienda or grocery is 
furnished with an unfailing supply of this indispensable 
condiment, dried, squeezed flat, and packed in boxes like 
raisins. 

The pulquerias, shops where pulque is sold, are very 
numerous in the city of Mexico. They are all very gaudily 
painted in brilliant water colours, or fresco, from the top to 
the bottom of the walls inside, with representations of land- 
scapes, animals, battles, <fec., the subject of the painting 
being illustrative of the title of the pulqueria. These paint- 
ings, though of a rather exaggerated description, are generally 
executed with considerable artistic skill and taste. The 
pulqueria!^ are furnished with a row of large open tubs, kept 
scrupulously clean, containing the pulque, which arrives from 
the country fresh every morn-ng, and is generally disposed 



276 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

of and the shop closed before evening. Tliese shops are the 
constant resort of a number of leperos, Indians, and greasers 
the latter term generally applied by the American army to 
the male portion of the lov/er class of Mexicans, is of rather 
obscure derivation. A genius of our company, " Ned Loner- 
gan,'' gave the following definition : — " Greaser," quoth Ned, 
" is plainly a corruption of kreeser, and the term has originat- 
ed from their custom of using the knife, a knife for stabbing 
being called a kreese in the East Indies." However, a plain 
matter of fact being suggested, that the tenn probably owed 
its origin to a greasy appearance they had from the habitual 
disuse of soap, Ned's ingenious definition was considered 
demolished. These greasers, and a sprinkling of leperos, 
and half-clad Indians, male and female, congregate in and 
around the pulqueria perpetually ; now quarrelling and 
fighting, now hugging and kissing each other, and occasion- 
ally joining in some popular song in praise of their favourite 
liquor. The burden of one of these songs runs thus, " Who 
does not love pulque, the divine liquor which the angels 
drink in heaven ?" 

In the village of Miscoac, about four or five miles from 
Mexico, where the division to which I belonged was stationed 
during; the truce after the battles of Contreras and Churu- 
busco, there were several plantations of the maguey ; and I 
have frequently seen their mode of treating the plant for the 
extraction of its juice. When the plant is on the point of 
flowering, which occurs from its fifth to its tenth year, accord- 
ing to soil and situation, they cut out the central part or 
heart, which should bear the flowers, and scoop out a portion 
of the interior pith, leaving a round cavity or reservoir, capa- 
ble of containing from one to two gallons according to the 
size and capacity of the plant. The entrance to the cavity, 
which is about five or six inches in diameter, is carefully 



MODE OF COLLECTING THE PULQUE. 277 

covered with a flat stone to prevent tlie evaporation of the 
juice, and to hinder the cattle, who are very fond of it, from 
drinking it. Plants will yield from a gallon to a gallon and 
a half a-day for a period of four or five months, when the 
juice of the plant being exhausted it withers and dies. The 
following is the mode of collecting the juice. The man who 
collects it carries a pig-skin on his back, one end of which is 
attached to his right shoulder ; the other end, containing the 
mouth of the skin, he carries over his left shoulder, holding it 
with his left hand. In his right hand he has a hollow gourd 
about two inches in diameter at the thick end, and tapering 
to a point ; it is about eighteen inches long and perforated 
at each end. Thus equipped he goes along the rows of the 
maguey (or agaves), and removing the stone from the cavity, 
he inserts the thick end of the gourd, and applying his mouth 
to the hole at the small end he rapidly fills it by suction ; then 
putting his thumb on the hole to exclude the air, he with- 
draws the gourd full of the liquor, and transfers its contents 
to the pig-skin. It is generally collected in the morning 
and evening only, though it is sometimes also collected at 
noon. When taken from the j)lant it is sweet, and. in taste 
and appearance somewhat resembles sugar and water. It is 
then poured into barrels or tubs, when it soon undergoes 
the fermenting process, which converts it into pulque. 
After it has fermented about twenty-four hours it has 
a pleasant sweet subacid taste, and is called pulque fresco 
(fresh pulque) ; when a day older it is called pulque fuerte 
(thoroughly fermented pulque) ; it has then a slightly putrid 
smell, and tastes very acidulous ; most seem to prefer it in 
the latter stage. It is nearly as intoxicating as English ale, 
and in Mexico is sold for about sixpence a quart ; but in the 
country it is a great deal cheaper. The pulquerias in Mexico 
are ail kept by men, and their owners are invariably fat. 



278 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

As they are the only fat class, and indeed with the excep- 
tion of a few priests, the only fat individuals I saw in Mexico^ 
it would seem to possess the property of fattening in no 
small degree. It is reckoned a wholesome beverage by 
Europeans as well as Mexicans, and our surgeons generally 
recommended its use to our men as a cure for diarrhoea and 
bowel complaint. They distil a strong intoxicating spiritu- 
ous liquor from pulque, which they call Mexcal ; it has a sort 
of smoky taste, very much resembling Irish poteen. 

The grand cathedral is situated at one end of the Grand 
Plaza, the spacious square affording full display to the archi- 
tectural beauties of a very large and finely-proportioned 
building, the front of which has a very imposing effect when 
viewed from the extreme end of the square. On a near view, 
however, the carving in front of the building exhibits a con- 
siderable degree of the gingerbread style of architecture. But 
it is in the interior that one sees most to admire. The mag- 
nificence and splendour of the grand altar, and the numerous 
shrines that adorn the walls of the vast pile, astonish equally 
by the profusion, the richness, and the variety of their 
decorations. The interior of the dome is very well painted 
with scriptural subjects, and as they receive a good light, 
and the colours are brilliant, the paintings show with admira- 
ble effect from the floor of the cathedral. There are a num- 
ber of good paintings in the building, though I believe none 
of any extraordinary merit; rich and gaudy ornaments, acid 
gilding, being evidently more appreciated than the works of 
the celebrated masters. A picture occupying the left side 
of the grand altar, as we advanced by the principal entrance, 
attracted the attention of our party. It was a representation 
of purgatory, and a number of priests, bishops, and digni- 
taries of the Church in full canonicals, and with mitre, crozier, 
and other insignia of their oflSce, appeared in the foreground, 



THE ALAMEDA. 27* 

as the principal figures, tossing in agony amidst the flames. 
These wretched-looking beings, who one would t^iink ough. 
to have been stripped of their gowns if worthy of such 
severe discipline, seemed vainly imploring the assistance of 
the angels and cherubs, who hovered round for the purpose 
of rescuing those sufficiently purified. Several of these 
angels were engaged in ascending to heaven with a wretched- 
looking lepero, or ragged beggar, while those who remained 
seemed unanimously of opinion that the churchmen were 
not yet entitled to their offices. " Well, Findlay, what would 
your countryman John Knox say if he could rise from his 
grave and see all the splendour of this building ?" asked Nutt, 
of a Scotchman belonging to our party, as we were quit- 
ting the cathedral. "Hoot man! he would just say it was 
ane of the richest diamonds on the whore o' Babylon's petti- 
coat," was the somewhat characteristic reply of honest 
Findlay. 

The Alameda is a large square about a mile and a half in 
circumference, thickly planted with magnificent umbrageous 
trees, and intersected with spacious walks bordered with 
flowering shrubs and adorned with fountains and jets d'eau. 
Being a most delicious shady retreat, and within a short 
distance of the most central part of the city, it is much 
resorted to in warm weather by all classes. There is a fine 
shady avenue for equestrians all round it, while in the 
interior walks, rich and splendidly dressed dons and donnas 
rub shoulders with the blanketed lepero. Exclusivism at 
least is a vice that has no footing in Mexico, and the extreme 
ends of society jostle each other without that air of defiant 
surprise which their casual encounter seems to elicit in some 
more highly enlight.med countries. 

The burial ground of Santa Maria deserves notice. It is 
situated on the outskirts of the town, and is enclosed with a 



280 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

tliick wall about fifteen feet high and ten thick. In the 
inside of this wall, from the bottom to the top, there are 
recesses in regular order, into which the coffins are inserted, 
a plate containing the epitaph being placed over the end of 
each coffin, and cemented into the wall. There is a piazza 
round the inside of the wall, and a number of the coffins 
have shrines in front of the epitaph plates, which are lit up 
on festival nights, when the burial ground is a favourite 
promenade of the relatives and friends of the deceased inter- 
red there. The area of the burying ground, which contains 
about ten or twelve acres, is laid off in gravel walks bordered 
with flowers and shrubbery, and in it are a number of very 
handsome marble tombs. The grounds are very tastefully 
kept, and altogether the place has more the aspect of cheer- 
fulness, than the gloom which usually accompanies the sight 
of a graveyard. Among the ornamental shrubs were some 
of the most luxuriant specimens of broom in full flower, that 
I ever beheld. Several -of these shrubs were about twelve 
feet high, and being completely covered with their golden 
blossoms, they had a most glorious appearance. It was the 
first broom I had seen in Mexico, and it seemed like an old 
friend, its appearance irresistibly carrying me back to the 
broomy knowes of my native land. The burial ground is 
the property of the church, and as the sums charged for the 
privilege of interring in it are enormously high, of course 
none but the rich inter in it. The lower classes bury in 
other places and without coffins. They are carried to the 
grave on a rude sort of litter, the corpses of children and 
women being profusely decked with roses and other flowers, 



CHAPTER XXV. 



CONCLUSION. 



As the Mexican Government sliowed no signs of -wishing to 
terminate the war, refusing to correspond with the American 
commissioners, although a large party in Mexico were 
avowedly in favour of peace, we had still the prospect of a 
few more engagements. The Mexican war party were 
encouraged by the dissensions among our officers, a cabal 
of whom had managed to get General Scott superseded in 
the command by General Butler — a change very unpalata- 
ble to the troops, who idolized their veteran commander, so 
uniformly successful, and whose triumph over the weak 
machinations of his contemptible adversaries is now matter 
of history. The desertions of our soldiers to the Mexican 
army, which were still numerous, in spite of the fearful 
example of the execution of those taken at Churubusco, also 
served to inspire that party with hope. 

As the majority of these deserters were Irish, the cause 
commonly assigned by the officers for their desertion, was, 
that as they were Roman Catholics they imagined they were 
fighting against their religion in fighting the Mexicans. 
There was a portion of truth in that view of the subject, but 
it came very short of the whole truth. I have good reason 
to believe, in fact in some individual cases I know, that harsh 
and unjust treatment by their officers operated far moro 
strongly than any other consideration to produce the deplo- 
rable result. The various degrading modes of punishment, 



282 ADVENTURES OF A S0L3)IER IN MEXICO. 

often inflicted by young, headstrong, and inconsiderate offi 
cers, in their zeal for the discipline of the service, for the 
most trivial offences, were exceedingly galling to the fiery, 
untameable spirit of the sons of the Green Isle. And I have 
not the slightest doubt that those barbarous modes of punish- 
ment in common adoption, and the want of sympathy gene- 
rally existing between the officers and their men, were the 
exciting causes of the majority of these cases of desertion so 
lamentably frequent. 

One of the modes of punishment practised while in the 
city, consisted in placing the culprit standing on a barrel in 
the open street, exposed to the heat of the sun all day, and 
the derisive admiration of the street passengers. Of course 
a sentry was in attendance to shoot or run him through with 
a bayonet if he attempted to escape from his uncomfortable 
position. Another mode consisted in placing the victim on 
a high wooden horse, and I knew of one man losing his life, in 
consequence of being compelled to sit for a series of days and 
nights in that position ; one night while asleep, he fell from 
the back of his inanimate steed, which was about eight feet 
high, on the hard pavement, and was so severely injured that 
he died shortly afterwards in consequence. 

But the favourite punishment was that called the buck and 
gag ; which is administered after the following manner. The 
culprit being seated on the ground, his feet are drawn up to 
his hams, and his wrists tied firmly in front of his legs ; a 
long stick or broom handle is then inserted between his legs 
and arms, going over his arms and under his bent knees, a 
gag is then placed in his mouth and tied firmly behind his 
head. In this helpless condition, unable to move hand, foot, 
or tongue, he is left for a series of hours, or even days, accord- 
ing to the humour of his tormentor. This revolting and dis- 
gusting punishment, which is often inflicted at the mere 



PROSPECTS OF PEACE. 283 

whim of an oflScer, lias long been, and, I am sorry to sa}^, 
still continues a favourite mode of punishment in the Ameri- 
can army. 

But the expectations of the Mexican war party were soon 
damped by the vigour with which the United States seemed 
resolved to prosecute the war to an honourable issue. Large 
reinforcements arrived in January and February, making up 
our total strength to at least 12,000 effective men. And the 
whole army being kept at diligent drill, by the end of March 
we had by far the most efficient army that had been in the 
field since the commencement of the war. This wise policy 
of the States tended greatly to facilitate the treaty which 
General Scott and Mr. Trist had begun to negotiate with the 
Mexican Government, who at length seemed willing to come 
to terms. 

About the middle of April, it was currently reported, much 
to our satisfaction, that the basis of a treaty had been agreed 
upon between the Mexican Government and Mr. Trist, which 
had been despatched to Washington for the action of the 
Legislature. The war was now considered over, all agreeing 
that the States were tired of the contest, and would with- 
draw from it as soon as they could without a palpable sacri- 
fice of the national honour. Still, as the result was by no 
means certain, our commander cor>tinued to maintain the 
efficiency of the troops by rigid discipline and a wholesome 
system of drill. 

It was about the beginning of. May when the news of the 
French Revolution reached Mexico, creating a vast deal of 
excitement and speculation among all classes of the army; 
indeed, to judge from the triumphant expression of counte- 
nance worn by the more enthusiastic of the worshippers of 
democratic government, they seemed to believe that the 



284 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

millennium of republicanism had arrived at last, the reful- 
gency of their glorious stars having at last penetrated and 
dispelled the noxious fogs of European despotism. Perhaps 
if these too sanguine worshippers of the goddess of libert]f 
could have foreseen the events of the last few years — par 
exemple, the spectacle of the Pope forced on his unwiUing 
subjects, and propped in the fisherman's chair by French 
bayonets — it might have moderated their enthusiasm. 

The news of the ratification of the treaty of peace arrived 
about the middle of May, an event infinitely more interesting 
to us all, than the downfall of European dynasties. The war 
was now at an end, and the intelligence seemed to diffuse 
general satisfaction ; splendid fireworks were exhibited in the 
Plaza, in celebration of the event ; and the inhabitants gene- 
rally seemed delighted at the prospect of peace. The only 
class who seemed to feel it a misfortune, was the numerous 
train of gamblers, sharpers, and other camp followers, who, 
like ill-omened birds of prey, hung round our army ; and 
who seemed by their lugubrious countenances to have 
received a grievous blow and discouragement by this sudden 
end to their accursed occupations. 

The division to which I belonged, left the city of Mexico 
on our homeward route, on the 29th of May ; but owing to 
the scarcity of shipping at Vera Cruz, our battery had to 
stay a month at Jalapa, until a sufficient number of vessels 
should have arrived from the States. This delay was a seri- 
ous misfortune, as it detained us until the period of yellow 
fever had commenced in New Orleans, and which we would 
otherwise have anticipated. Our company, with its battery 
and a hundred horses belonging to it, embarked in a large 
steamer at Vera Cruz, on the 1 5th of July ; the cabin fitted 
up with stalls, contained our horses, the men occupied the 



YELLOW FEVER. 285 

Upper deck, and after a fair voyage of four days Ave arrived 
at New Orleans, where we turned in our horses to the quar- 
termaster tc be sold. 

We remained in New Orleans a few days, and on the 23 rd 
of July embarked in a brig called the Patrick Henry, for 
New York. We left all our sick, consisting of five or six 
men, who were ill with diarrhoea, in hospital at New Orleans, 
and there were nine men absent without leave ; these had 
evidently taken the earliest opportunity of bidding good bye 
to Uncle Sam's service on landing in the States. We were 
towed down the river by a steamer on the 24th, and on the 
25th, the wind being fair, we made sail. Before we had been 
a day out, two of our men fell sick, complaining of pain in 
the head, and in a few hours after, we had about a dozen on 
the sick list, and the symptoms of the disease, vomiting and 
delirium, confii-med our worst fears ; we had the virulent and 
deadly tropical plague, the dreaded yellow fever, on board. 
The surgeon, whose name I have forgotten, was most diligent 
and untiring in his efforts to arrest the progress of the fatal 
malady, and relieve the sufferings of the sick ; by his own 
directions he was wakened every two hours during the night, 
that he might observe the state of his patients and adminis- 
ter medicine ; but in spite of his exertions, the fatal disease 
claimed a number of victims, and before we reached New 
York, sixteen of our number had been consigned to the deep. 
At one period of the voyage more than two thirds of those 
on board were on the doctor's list, and our prospects were 
gloomy in the extreme ; more especially as the season was 
that in which calms are prevalent in the gulf; and to be 
becalmed for days, perhaps weeks, in our floating pest-house, 
every one felt would be the destruction of one-half or two- 
thirds of those on board. As a climax to our misfortunes, 



286 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

the medicine wliicli our surgeon had been using, and on 
which he depended for the successful treatment of tlie 
disease, was nearly exhausted, and many began to consider 
themselves only spared from the Mexican bullets to die a 
more horrible death. In the midst of these gloomy antici- 
pations, we had the good fortune to meet a large vessel 
bound to Charleston ; having signalled her, as she was 
going under easy sail, she lay to till we sent a boat with our 
surgeon over to her, when, fortunately, the captain was able 
to supply him with a quantity of the medicine he required. 
To add to our good fortune, a fine breeze sprang up in the 
evening, which lasted until we reached New York, on the 
morning of the 12th of August, when we dropped anchor 
opposite Staten Island. 

Soon after our arrival a surgeon came on board, and 
ordered all our sick to be taken ashore to the hospital at 
Staten Island. The vessel was to remain at quarantine until 
thoroughly cleansed and fumigated ; but the remainder of 
the soldiers were to be landed at Governor's Island as soon 
as possible. Accordingly, our sick, amounting to between 
thirty and forty, were sent ashore, a number of them having 
to be carried up from the hold, and handed down the side 
of the vessel into the boat. The disease communicated to 
several of the hospital attendants, a few of whom died of it, 
A number of the inhabitants also caught the dangerous 
infection ; and for a month after cases of yellow fever were 
of frequent occurrence on that side of Staten Island ; in 
fact, though a favourite resort of summer parties from New 
York, steamers ceased to ply to and from it for some time, 
on account of the prevailing disease, the public being warned 
by the papers from visiting it. 

The remainder of our company were put on board a small 



CONCLUSION, 28'? 

sloop, and carried up to Governor's Island, where we landed 
about seven o'clock in the evening. I thought it a curious 
coincidence that I was landing in Governor's Island again on 
the evening of the 12th of August, having landed there on 
the 12th of August three years before. To complete the 
coincidence, it was at the same hour, and exactly the same 
sort of a lovely evening. We were lodged in some empty 
rooms in the castle for that night, and the next day went 
into tents out on the field. These tents had no wooden bot- 
toms or flooring, as they certainly ought to have had, where 
they could have been so easily procured. Many of the men 
were weak from the effects of fever ; and several who fell ill 
and died at that time were evidently victims to this disre- 
gard of the health of the soldier. 

About sixty of the company, who had enlisted for the 
duration of the war in Mexico, were discharged a few weeks 
after our arrival. The remainder of our company, after we 
had been about a month on Governor's Island, our sick 
having nearly all joined us from Staten Island, were sent to 
Baltimore. There I passed the remainder of my enlistment, 
being discharged on the 12th of August, 1850. As the 
remaining 'two years which I passed in the service present 
only the usual barren and monotonous features of a soldier's 
life in garrison, I have resolved on concluding the narrative 
with my return from Mexico. 

And now, tired reader, in conclusion, allow me to say a 
few words deprecatory of your severe criticism. The fore- 
going rather sketchy and imperfect narrative was written, 
without the help of notes, some years after the events which 
it describes occurred. Trusting to memory for details and 
statistics, I am aware that a few slight unintentional mis- 
takes might be detected in the course of the narrative. 



288 ADVENTURES OE A SOLDIER IN MEXICO. 

However, satisfied of truthfulness of intent, I feel that I have 
throughout endeavoured to " Nothing extenuate, nor set dowr 
aught in malice." I am also confident that should any of my 
old fellow-comrades ever read this narrative, while acknow- 
ledging the general accuracy of its descriptions, they will hear- 
tily subscribe to most of the opinions expressed in it. 



THS SHD. 



311.77 -2 



